WITH several swimming pools set to be closed in the Bradford District, it is a relief to learn that Ilkley Pool looks to be safe.

There is no public pool close by, so closing something like Ilkley Pool - and in particular the much-prized visitor attraction, Ilkley Lido - would leave Wharfedale taxpayers within of the Bradford District feeling decidedly short changed. Where this leaves the bid to upgrade or rebuild Ilkley's ageing pool, whether or not Bradford Council's current sports facilities strategy goes ahead, is not clear. Certainly, few people would have expected Bradford Council to foot the bill for a serious redevelopment project, something in the scale of the £10million suggested by Ilkley Pool Group. Local authorities simply do not have money like this to throw around, and did not have all that much money even before the hiccups in the economy of recent years. While it's unlikely that the sell-off of pool sites around the Bradford District would fund a new complex in Ilkley, the injection of any cash at all from the local authority might help to attract funding from external sources. It is probably worth bearing in mind that the public consultation on Bradford Council's pools redevelopment scheme is open to the comments of all residents of the Bradford district. Although Ilkley people may not have any preference on sites for the other new pools proposed, or concerns about existing pools elsewhere in the district being lost, they can always have a say on how, and where, they feel public money should be spent.