SIR — I hung my head in shame after reading Peter Phillips' reprimand that the people of Minehead didn't have the grit to save Aquasplash (Your Letters September 4).

I'm sure the hundreds of protestors who got together to fight the closure by writing letters, collecting signatures for petitions and lobbying the council by attending and speaking at meetings are now kicking themselves for not thinking of storming the Aquasplash building.

We really missed a trick there chaps!

Okay, so Sedgemoor Splash was still open when the protestors 'stormed' the building, while Aquasplash was closed, locked and boarded up, but obviously that shouldn't have stopped us.

We should have torn down the boards, kicked in the chained-up doors and sat in the empty swimming pool in the deserted building waiting for the bulldozers to turn up– that would have shown the council we were really serious!

And what idiots we all were not to think of holding a jumble sale or a sponsored run to raise the funds to fix the leak.

Had we managed to get the couple of thousand needed, the council would surely then not have quibbled about spending £300,000 to keep the facility open for another year.

We really shouldn't have wasted our time trying to put together a management committee of local people to run the pool or trying to find an alternative operator. 

We should have baked some cakes and sold them in the Tesco car park instead!

Of course, storming Sedgemoor Splash didn't achieve much in the end - the pool still closed on August 30 as the council fully intended it would.

The protestors meanwhile, ended up signing some sort of legal agreement to say they wouldn't try to interfere with the demolition of the building or the council would stick them with the bill for the loss of revenue their sit-in caused. 

So in the end, as in West Somerset, the bureaucrats won – but at least Bridgwater has the firm promise of a new pool in three years' time, which is more than can be said for us! 

But hold on all you people who haven't quite given up the fight yet and who are still quietly lobbying councillors at every given opportunity to get West Somerset a new pool, we have a new leader in Mr Phillips.

Having missed an opportunity before by not consulting him, we should now rally behind him as he obviously has the grit and determination that we lack. 

Perhaps he would like to start with a spot of fundraising, say, hiring out a big balloon to give rides over North Hill. After all he wouldn't have to look far for the hot air to fill it.

Jo Borthwick,