I have signed and completed on a 99 year lease with North Somerset council for Portishead Open Air Pool, this secures the future of the pool for generations to come.

It has taken months of long hard negotiation to get to this stage but finally we have a long lease, a commercial agreement and a sitting out licence for the grass outside, the lease negotiation has been plagued with legal wrangling but finally we have an agreement that we can be proud of.

The signing of this lease not only marks an important milestone in the future of the pool, it also releases much needed funds from other organisations, the Town Council will now release the £17,250 they promised us last year and we can now apply for Lottery grants and to the Carbon Trust for grants install solar heating.

I would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this process, and announce that the pool will be open for business on the 30th April 2010 (nearly a month earlier than last year); please come and support your local pool.