Dear editor:

I strongly agree with Dave Hutchinson of Shawnigan Lake whose letter was published in the Nov. 4 edition of the Cowichan News Leader Pictorial.

The referendum should include an option that doesn't include a pool.

It is obvious that renovations need to be done at the Kerry Park Recreation Center, but adding a pool is a ridiculous idea.

Who can afford the extra $600 per year?

Plus there is a nice pool in Duncan, and the pool at the Ocean Front Hotel in Cowichan Bay has a very reasonable price of $4 for an adult.

If you don't have a car, then there is still the public transit.

And really, Cowichan Bay isn't that much farther from Shawnigan Lake than Kerry Park.

The picture I have seen of what the new rec centre is supposed to look like, shocked me.

The whole facility looked way too huge for such a rural area.

You have to think in the right dimensions.

Including a pool and enlarging the facility to such an extent is very unnecessary.

We have three gyms in the South Cowichan area, one in Mill bay, one in Cobble Hill and one in Cowichan Bay. And we have two public pools in the Cowichan Valley.

This would be such a waste of our resources as well as our money.

In the end we wouldn't get much out of it.

If you pay $600 per year, you're going to have to cut back on other things and who would want that?

Plus in one of the advertisements it says: A legacy for you, your children and your

grandchildren.

But really, instead of investing $600 per year into the pool, wouldn't you rather invest it in your children or grandchildren directly?

Because think about it, how often would your children even use the pool?

Jasmin Gabriel

Cobble Hill