If it were up to the coalition parties in Central Drenthe, the indoor swimming pool De Smelte in Smilde would close after the summer at the latest. This causes anger at the Smilde Residents Platform. “No maintenance has been carried out on the swimming pool for thirty years and now politicians suddenly want to close it without an alternative for the residents,” says chairman Cor Onderwater.
“Yesterday we had a conversation with the municipality. It was said that this motion might be submitted tonight. When I got home, the motion was already online,” says Onderwater. “We feel put on the spot and do not find it acceptable that without clear advance guarantees and safeguards for swimming lessons and recreational swimmers, our swimming pool will be closed at short notice.”
Swimming pool De Smelte dates from the seventies. At the time it was a modern swimming pool with a movable floor. But over the past thirty years, little maintenance has been done other than the bare essentials. That bothers the Smildegers.
“There has already been talk about the closure, but this news comes like a bolt from the blue. It will close after the summer, without any prior consultation,” said the chairman of the residents’ platform. This is said to have been prompted, among other things, by the financial situation of the municipality. “We understand that. But in this way the level of facilities in the village is being affected without us being thought about.”
This hurts in Smilde, where, since the municipal reorganization in 1998, residents have the feeling that more attention from the municipality is being paid to Beilen and Westerbork. That changed somewhat with the arrival of the new village vision Vision on Smilde in 2021. Underwater: “But these types of plans do not help the population’s confidence in politics.”
The plan for closing the indoor swimming pool comes from Positive Vooruit. The motion they are submitting tonight is supported by PvdA, VVD, CDA, ChristenUnie, GroenLinks and D66. If it is technically necessary, they even want the swimming pool to close earlier.
It is clear that the swimming pool is seriously outdated and that costs the municipality money. According to the coalition parties, Midden-Drenthe contributes 25 euros per unique visitor. In addition, the technical installation is said to be at the end of its lifespan and repairs are technically and financially irresponsible. Finally, the parties note that forty percent of the users do not come from the municipality.
According to the parties, the money released by the closure should go to the Vision of Smilde. And Smildegers may be able to use a swimming pool in Hoogersmilde in the short term, where there are plans for an indoor swimming pool at a campsite.
These ideas are not nearly enough for Onderwater. “These commitments are all as soft as butter. We just hope that the money saved will go to Visie op Smilde. That would be a plaster on the wound, but it is not a hard offer. So far only a declaration of intent has been signed for that swimming pool in Hoogersmilde. The question remains whether that will happen. And what is the problem that forty percent of the swimmers come from outside the municipality? They pay for it, right?”
Residents’ platform Smilde would prefer to see a new swimming pool. “Because not everyone who uses the bath has the opportunity to travel to Beilen. At the same time, using public transport to travel to Beilen is also not an option. Then you have to travel via Assen,” the chairman knows.
A large swimming pool may be hopeless, but Onderwater sees opportunities for a small instruction pool in a future multifunctional accommodation in the village. “A place where you can at least give swimming lessons and where the elderly can do aqua jogging, for example. Otherwise, an indoor swimming pool in Hoogersmilde is also a solution for us. But that’s not there yet.”
That is why the residents’ platform hopes that there will still be a transition period until there is an alternative for the residents of Smilde. “And the money released by closing the swimming pool must be guaranteed that it actually goes to the village vision.”