Swimclub thread on Brynaman Pool attracts over 1000 views

The Swimclub thread on the Brynaman Pool has now attracted over 1000 views:

http://www.swimclub.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=14169

The latest post is about the council's Community Regeneration Team, which apparently has invested nine million pounds in Carmarthenshire's communities to "empower them", strengthen their identities, protect leisure and cultural facilities etc.

If the Community Regeneration Team has access to this kind of funding then it should definitiely be supporting the people of Brynaman in their fight to save their lido, because this pool is most certainly a part of the community's 'identity'.

This is the nonsense of modern funding: how can Carmarthenshire County Council claim that they can't afford to spend an extra £12,000 repairing the pool whilst the Regeneration team boasts of a nine million pound investment?

Brynaman Pool needs more than vague reassurances

The Deputy Leader of Carmarthenshire County Council has been pledging that the Council will do all they can to re-open Brynaman Pool next year. Unfortunately, these kind of vague reassurances have no value whatsoever without a detailed survey, a proper budget and an exact timetable for the repair work.

Estimates for repairing the pool are currently varying between £20,000 and £100,000 depending on what newspaper you read! For example in the South Wales Evening Post on August 4th 2010 the Council were claiming the upper figure was needed and also claiming (erroneously) that the film company had offered £20,000.

I have taken the trouble to double check with Chris Hill, the Location Manager for "Hunky Dory", and at no time did the film company offer the Council £20,000; and yet the council made this statement in the South Wales Evening Post last week: "When the (film) producers heard the pool would have cost £100,000 to repair and not the initial £20,000 they had offered, they backed off."

Furthermore the Council remain "at a loss" to explain why they didn't alert the Brynaman Swimming Pool Association sooner about the need for repairs. This phrase occurs in the article written in the South Wales Guardian. I believe I can help them out here: the reason why the Council cannot adequately explain the delay is because they planned it that way! They knew they were not going to open the pool and they also knew they couldn't afford to give BSPA too much notice, because otherwise there would have been time for a concerted protest: therefore presenting the people of Brynaman with a fait accompli was their chosen method of closure.

I doubt if they had prepared themselves for the publicity that has followed this unpleasant piece of council deviousness.


http://www.southwalesguardian.co.uk/news/8311034.Council_boss_offers_Brynaman_pool_campaigners_some_hope/

Bereft in Brynaman - Article for the Outdoor Swimming Society

"BEREFT IN BRYNAMAN"

An article about the closure of the Brynaman Pool this summer (2010).

I wrote this article on 29th/30th July 2010 and sent it in to the Outdoor Swimming Society.
It is now available on the news section of the OSS

http://www.outdoorswimmingsociety.com/index.php?p=news#234

Photo is courtesey of the Brynaman Swimming Pool Association

Did Carmarthenshire County Council turn down the producer of "Billy Elliot"?

When the news about the Brynaman Pool closure broke last week, one of the additional items of news was that a film company had been planning to use the lido as one of its locations this summer.

As far as I can gather the film is called Hunky Dory and the producer of this is Jon Finn, the producer of the film "Billy Elliot"!

Did Carmarthenshire County Council really turn this opportunity down and if so did they realize what it was they were saying "no" to?

If I have got any of my facts wrong here, I would like to know; but I have been researching all afternoon and Hunky Dory is certainly being shot this summer in Wales, with one of the stars being Minnie Driver.

Have just contacted one of the production team of Hunky Dory and it's true. The Council have said 'no' to the lido being used as a film location.

It would therefore appear that in their eagerness to close Brynaman Pool, Carmarthenshire County Council have bypassed the opportunity to showcase local Welsh talent - actors, musicians, singers etc - and to put Brynaman on the map in a highly positive way. This would have been a boost for tourism in the area as people love to visit places that have been used as film locations. Not so hunky-dory. My guess is that the council made up their minds to close the pool months ago and then were not flexible enough to change their plans when the film opportunity came along