"Public slanging matches do as much damage to the town as talking the town down in the newspaper or even the local pub."

"Is that a swipe at me?" I wondered. I took a look at last week's Swaffham pages.

There were stories about an energy-saving exhibition to be held at EcoTech, a fundraising idea at the Sacred Heart Convent School, how the makers of Kingdom and the local Lioness Club were giving money to support the town's youth council, and the marvellous support that townspeople had shown to the Friends of Swaffham Rec's fundraising projects.

There was also news of the town council's very positive ideas for the future of the town. Each one of them positive, good news stories.

Then there was me... moaning on about how we'd never get that swimming pool, because of the downturn in the economy and bureaucratic wrangling over planning. Oops! Looks like that remark could have been aimed at me!

I confess, I'm not a fan of the swimming pool project. Even with an expansion of the size hoped for by the town council, Swaffham will still be a small town. I worry about the expense of maintaining a swimming pool and whether enough people will use it day in and day out throughout the year. Any estate agent will tell you that a small house with a swimming pool is worth less than an identical house with just a small garden.

On the other hand, if someone else was paying for it, if, for example, we had a Center Parcs on our doorstep, then I would be arguing for subsidised tickets for locals, paid for by our local taxes as part of a plan to teach everybody how to swim. It's one of those basic life skills that everyone should have.

However, I don't support subsidising those with the very expensive hobby of swimming, so they can get their weekly dip cheaply. There are a lot of cheaper ways of keeping the townsfolk fit and healthy than building and maintaining a swimming pool.