TALKS aimed at securing public access to Cinderford swimming pool are ’going well’, says a senior officer at the Forest Council.

It is hoped more details about securing the pool’s future will be made public next month.

The future of the leisure centre pool, which is on the site of Forest High School, was thrown into doubt earlier in 2016 when it was revealed that the school’s sponsors, South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS) wanted to pull out of a 40-year agreement which gave the school the use of the pool.

At a meeting of the council’s scrutiny and overview committee last Thursday (September 8), Labour leader Cllr Di Martin (Cinderford East) asked the authority’s strategic director, Sue Pangbourne, how the negotiations with SGS were going.

Ms Pangbourne said: “Negotiations are proceeding with Forest High School and SGS and we are hopeful that we will have an agreed way forward we can bring to Cabinet in October.”

She said it was hoped the report on the negotiations will be discussed in the public part of the Cabinet meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday, October 13.

She said: “We’ve marked it as exempt in case there is financial information that has to be kept exempt but hopefully won’t be.”

The last time the matter was discussed – at a Cabinet meeting in April – it was revealed the college wanted the council to take on full responsibility for running costs and repairs while the council wants to modify the current agreement, which would see it contribution increase from 55 per cent to 60 per cent.

A ’full repairing lease’ would cost the council £87,000 a year for a decade – the equivalent of 1.94 per cent on Council Tax.

Ms Pangbourne told the scrutiny committee: “Negotiations are going well but were slow over the summer holidays.

“Conversations are happening on a regular basis now and there are different proposals being worked out for what is the best way forward for the community.”