MAKE IT COUNT. TAKE ADDITIONAL ACTION.
Thank you for taking additional actions to get Gibsons Pool reopened. Please consider also signing our petition if you have not done so already. You can find the petition
​
Things tend to change when the politicians and public officials receive pressure from their constituents and the general public. Write to the SCRD and your local representative explaining why reopening Gibsons pool is important for you, your family or your community. Make it personal. Let them know this is not just another item on today's agenda.
​
If you can't quite "find your voice" for the email, please feel free to use one of the four example texts below as inspiration or copy and paste it into the body of your message. Keep it personal. Tell them how has the closure affected you and your family. Be polite. Ask them to act now and to ensure that when it does open the hours aren't scaled back relative to other facilities.
If you decide to send an email to the SCRD, please consider addressing your message to Graeme Donn, Manager, Recreation and Community Partnerships and to Ian Hall, General Manager, Planning & Community Development. They are key stakeholders on this issue.
Please also consider including the Directors of Areas A (Egmont and Pender Harbour; Leonard Lee), B (Halfmoon Bay; Lori Pratt), D (Roberts Creek; Andreas Tize), E (Elphinstone; Donna McMcMahon) and F (Howe Sound; Mark Hiltz) of the SCRD, as well as the Directors of the District of Sechelt, Darnelda Siegers and Alton Toth. All of them have a voice and voting power on this. We are listing their email addresses for your convenience. Feel free to copy and paste them when you contact them.
Direct your email to:
Graeme Donn <graeme.donn@scrd.ca>; Ian Hall <ian.hall@scrd.ca>
Consider adding the SCRD Directors in the Cc field of your email. Here are the addresses.
​
David Croal <david.croal@scrd.ca>; Leonard Lee <Leonard.Lee@scrd.ca>; Lori Pratt <Lori.Pratt@scrd.ca>; Andreas Tize <Andreas.Tize@scrd.ca>; Mark Hiltz <mark.hiltz@scrd.ca>; Donna McMcMahon <Donna.McMahon@scrd.ca>; Darnelda Siegers <Darnelda.Siegers@scrd.ca>; Alton Toth <alton.toth@scrd.ca>
​
EXAMPLE 1
​
Dear Graeme Donn and Ian Hall and SCRD Area Directors.
I ride my bicycle to the Gibsons Pool as we are a one-car family. and my wife uses the car for her work. I can only swim before work so the public bus to Sechelt is out of the question. Swimming is a way for me to stay fit and destress. The closure of this local pool means that I can no longer swim. Please open our pool now!
Thank you
Sincerely
__________
Name
Address
Phone
​
EXAMPLE 2
​
Dear Graeme Donn and Ian Hall and SCRD Area Directors.
I am concerned that the Gibsons Public Pool is still closed. I do have access to a car but find it onerous to drive the 60 km round trip from my home in Gibsons to Sechelt. I spend more time in the car than swimming. I also find it difficult to justify the carbon footprint that I will create to have my swim when there is a local pool waiting to be used. You are our public servants and have it within your power to have this local facility up and running. Please do the right thing and open the pool with opening hours similar to other pools in the SCRD.
Sincerely
_____________
Name
Address
Phone number
​
EXAMPLE 3
​
Dear Graeme Donn and Ian Hall and SCRD Area Directors.
I am disappointed that the Gibsons Pool is still closed when all other recreation facilities are up and running. We patiently waited while a new roof was installed. Then a new hot tub was installed and finally the change rooms were upgraded. A lot of money has recently gone into this facility. As a taxpayer I am not happy that this facility is not open. As a citizen of this community, I believe in the principle of local public facilities that all have access to. Please open this facility now and expand its operating hours.
Sincerely
_____________
Name
Address
Phone number
​
​
EXAMPLE 4
​
Dear Graeme Donn and Ian Hall and SCRD Area Directors
​
Being a longtime user of the Gibsons pool I can’t help but get the feeling that the SCRD either has it in for this facility or doesn’t understand the value of recreation.
​
All other recreation facilities are open. A few weeks ago, Coast Reporter quoted the SCRD general manager of community development stating that the Sechelt Aquatic Centre can offer the amenities that are offered by Gibsons and that Sechelt is “well served by public transit.” I think it would be a good idea if SCRD officials took the better part of a day to ride a public bus to Sechelt from Gibsons return for the 45-minute swim that is currently offered.
​
Last week’s Coast Reporter article (“SCRD doesn’t budge on Gibsons pool closure”) makes it clear that the directors have no idea what it would cost to open the Gibsons pool or what has been saved (if anything) by keeping the pool closed. It seems that the idea of partially opening all pools and spreading the cost was not considered.
​
The reality is that our community is spread out with poor transit. Not opening the Gibsons pool means that many people cannot swim, period. Pools are not designed to make money. They are a service designed to teach an important life skill that may save a life, and provide recreation to all ages. What other facilities do this? I am concerned that if the pool does reopen in January, the hours will be cut back even more than the other pools, limiting the public’s participation in lessons (if offered) or recreation. To this end, an online petition has been started: a link to the“Save The Pool” petition and website can be found here: https://savegibsonspool.wixsite.com/savethepool/sign-the-petition
​
Please find the will to reopen Gibsons pool and to keep it open with a schedule similar to other pools in our area.
​
Sincerely
_____________
Name
Address
Phone number