SIR,

Councillor Bob Greenland's attempt to explain the decision to start charging swimmers over 60 during the school holidays only adds to the confusion.

He says the Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) grant "compensates councils for the loss of income, pool and staff time". As the pool is staffed and heated anyway at public swimming times, these are fixed costs and nothing is "lost", however many elderly folk come to the sessions.

Perhaps he is hoping, as maintained in the budget proposals we commented on, that the change will result in a 'saving' of £10,000 with old folk coming in droves and paying the new fees. As the £10,000 saving was calculated on a charge of £2.40 per swim for an adult, how much does he think will now be saved with the new charges he announced in his letter last week of £1.35 per swim?

He went on to say that "someone over sixty can (by buying a pack of 20 swims) swim almost twice a week in holiday times for £27 a year". As there are 13 weeks of school holiday in a year, his arithmetic seems as weak as the arguments for charging older swimmers for a public facility which is already open, heated and staffed.

Jo Binmore

(Monmouth Swimmers)