READING your front page article about Meadowlands Pool on August 31 was like reading a precis of our correspondence with Leisure Connection and Mr Beckett of West Devon Borough Council over the last six months. We have raised all the matters covered in your article in this time and have received all the same promises in reply, but there has been precious little evidence of any action being taken. If Leisure Connection is in only the second year of a ten year contract, then bearing in mind the decline in the facility that has taken place in the first two years, we are left with a sense of doom over what its future will be. This is a much needed and valuable facility for Tavistock and the surrounding area and its current state is shameful. As the old adage goes, ?action speaks louder than words?. We have had plenty of words from the two parties concerned, now let?s have some action before it is too late! M J & Mrs D Heal Holmcroft Blackdown Mary Tavy YOUR lead item about the Meadowlands Pool on August 31 prompts me to record the following incident. I am partially disabled, with the use of only one hand and severe arthritis in my knee and find swimming a help with the latter. On July 26 I visited the pool and as I need the use of the hoist provided to get out, I asked for its help. I found it had one of the removable arms missing and asked one of the staff to find it. It was eventually passed to me with the request for me to fit it. With only one hand and in the water I found this difficult to do securely, and indeed, when lifted out, it became detached and I slid from it fairly heavily onto the slippery poolside. The staff present were indeed concerned and helpful, but I wrote at once to the manager reporting the matter and suggesting that better supervision and staff training was indicated, and the provision of a non-slip alighting point would be sensible. To date I have had no acknowledgement from Meadowlands. Eilsabeth A Stowell The Laurels Bere Alston
