1:37pm Friday 18th June 2010
By Neil Skinner
Watford Mayor Dorothy Thornhill says she has been “proved right” by a government decision to pull the plug on a controversial free swimming programme.
Mayor Thornhill’s ruling Liberal Democrat administration clashed repeatedly with former Labour MP Claire Ward over its refusal to implement the policy – introduced in April 2009 for under 16s and over 60s.
Watford Borough Council argued the government funded policy would still have cost its taxpayers an additional £70,000 and did not represent value for money.
Speaking after the new coalition government announced it would scrap the scheme, Mayor Thornhill said: “It was a very difficult decision to resist because of the amount of political and public pressure we were facing, but we stuck to our guns because we believed it would not get more people swimming and was not value for money.
“It was used persistently against us, particularly by our own [former] MP but I have been proved right.”
Councillor Nigel Bell, deputy Labour group leader at Watford Town Hall, defended the previous government’s policy. He said: “I think it’s a real shame that the Liberal Democrats never had any serious intention of introducing this.
“It’s also a shame that people won’t be allowed the health benefits of free swimming”
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