Harry Fenton, of Start Bay Park, Strete, writes:

As a Dartmouth-based ­personal trainer with an interest in the local population’s health, I was delighted when the new pool opened.

I have swam there several times and find it to be a ­wonderful facility with low ­levels of chlorine, clean ­changing rooms, the water ­temperature just right, and friendly, helpful staff.

What a shame that the ­pricing structure seems to be so wrong. For someone like me, who will swim several times a week, the monthly direct debit of £39.50 is fine. My swim will cost me around £3.50 a time.

However, to charge youngsters £4.40 for a dip on a Saturday morning is too much and will put kids off. A mother taking two children will have to pay £13.90 to swim with them. For someone on minimum wage, as so many workers are these days, that is nearly two hours’ pay.

Kirkcudbright in southwest Scotland, where I lived for several years, built a community pool. All the money was raised locally and the staff were ­volunteers from the town. The interesting bit is that the ­community opened a charity shop in the town and all the money raised helped subsidise the pool’s running costs. The shop raised a small fortune and was itself run by volunteers.

What a fantastic idea, and why couldn’t we do something similar here? The money raised could keep the cost down for children and lower-paid workers.

It would be a terrible shame if the town’s residents who can’t afford the opera nights at the Flavel, and can never eat at the more expensive restaurants, were also excluded from the swimming pool because their finances don’t allow for it.