Peaceful Demonstration takes place in Uckfield

It was sparked by the ongoing issues at the Leisure Centre

Dan Manvell - who appeard on Ashdown Radio on Friday said on Social Media "Today is the day"

What was it about?

The demonatration came as a result of a recent consultation by East Sussex County Council here Consultation on Future Options for Uckfield Leisure Centre - East Sussex - Citizen Space and the possibility the facility may close.

Local residents, town councillours, local captians of enterprise and business were there to have their say. Around 400 local people, with lots of placards, attended.

The early morning had been plagued by rain, but the weather gods looked favourably on the crowd, and the rain relented close to the start of the Rally.

Uckfield's Town Crier was called upon to declare the Rally open, to the accompaniment of loud cheers.

Rally organiser, Town Councillor Dan Manville, then took the microphone and told the Rally that the pool had played a major part in his growing-up in the town. He said that he could not understand how the District Council could put forward the suggestion of closure at a time when the town was growing in size, and with the potential for many more houses to come.

Uckfield Town Mayor, Jackie Love, said she was delighted to see so many people had turned out to show their feelings of resentment at the actions of the District Council.

A local resident, Steve Lovell, told the gathering that the pool had been invaluable for him as he used it as part of his rehabilitation after a serious health issue.

Other local residents told the Rally how use of the pool had helped them deal with the strains and stresses of life, apart from giving them the vital opportunity to learn to swim. But the Rally gave a great response of cheers when schoolchildren took the microphone to say how sad they would be if the pool was lost to the town.

Dan Manville then called on the Rally to bring the meeting to an end by as one, waving their many placards and shouting 'Save Our Pool'

Resident Carol said on Social media "let’s hope and 🙏🏼 we can make a difference and stop this ridiculous idea, the town needs a leisure centre for kids to learn to swim & be safe, adults to keep fit, people with disabilities to go or just to have a coffee and chat"

There two online petitions running one of which can be found here Petition · Save Our Uckfield Leisure Centre & Public Pool · Change.org and the other can be found here https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/save-our-swimming-protect-uckfield-s-pool

Our reporter Ian Smith was there and took the video above