Steve Jorden, executive director (strategy and commissioning) and head of paid ­service, South Hams Council, writes: 'Dear Mr and Mrs Davidson, Thank you for taking the trouble to write to us about the Dartmouth indoor pool. We would like to assure you that we are working with the trust to make sure we have a ­sustainable solution that will ensure the future operation of the pool once it is built. We have agreed with trustees that the pool would best be run by an experienced leisure operator, and as you rightly imply there are benefits to this being the same operator as of the adjoining leisure ­centre, both in terms of user numbers and economies of scale for operating costs. We are also agreed that the cost of operating the pool must be at least cost-neutral for the life of any contract with an external operator, as the district council does not have funding available to subsidise this and we have a responsibility to ensure that council tax payers do not bear an additional ­burden. The council has started a ­procurement process to find an operator/s for all of its leisure centres, as the current contract is due to end shortly. Therefore, as part of this procurement, it makes sense to include the operation of the proposed pool. It would be unwise to start the construction of the pool until we can be sure, through the procurement process, that experienced leisure operators will be able to operate it on a cost-neutral basis, thus avoiding the situation whereby the community is left with a pool and no one to operate it. Following dialogue with prospective operators, we should be in a position to confirm the viability of including the operation of the pool in the final contract specification by early autumn. In addition, we are working with the trust to support it with negotiations with building ­contractors and with any other issues that will arise as a result of this timetable. I hope this gives you some reassurance on the council's approach.'