Thanet council aims to offer an £11,000 concession for Margate’s seafront tidal pool
The pool, at the rear of the TS Elliot shelter, has been the site of numerous injuries and does not have RNLI lifeguard cover.
It was previously used for pedalos and that is the aim of a new concession deal.
Previously RNLI lifeguards had to warn against people using the pool for swimming, In 1996 a diver was awarded a financial sum after diving into the pool left him paralysed.
The proposal for the new concession is part of Thanet council’s 2023-24 budget plans.
Speaking at a meeting earlier this week council leader Ash Ashbee said: “The tidal pool is not covered by the RNLI lifeguards that look after the main beach.
“It is not for swimming, it is a tidal pool but designated by default from a boating pool as it used to have pedalos on it.
“It has not had a concession for a long while.
“As a council we have a risk element that we have to solve. The only way to solve it is to find revenue to have an own employ lifeguard to look after the pool otherwise we would have to close the pool and the only way you can close the pool is to open up the back end of it… to actually lose the pool of historic value. Maybe a concession could be found for it to have its own independent lifeguard to be put there.”
Cllr Ashbee said if the cover was provided via a concession, the council could stipulate the hours this would be required.
She added: “It is imperative, we cannot have that pool open without any attendance of a lifeguard this summer because we are at risk. We have to find a solution for that, the last thing I want to do is put a bulldozer through the back wall so it is no longer a pool.
“But it is not a swimming pool, it is actually meant for boating.”
The town’s Walpole Bay Tidal Pool, which opened in 1937 and is Grade II listed , is safe for swimmers.
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