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?
Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts
Showing posts with label heritage. Show all posts
Thursday, 12 August 2010
Wednesday, 4 August 2010
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
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Broomhill Pool and the General Election - update March 2010
Back in the autumn of 2009, Ipswich Borough Council advertised for "Expressions of Interest" in the Broomhill Pool site, with a closing date of October 23rd 2009. The Council referred in the advertisement to recreational and leisure use for the site but, very cleverly, did not stipulate that the pool must be kept as a pool.
In December 2009 the Executive met and formally resolved to pursue Option 2 of a range of options ie pursuing this option of an outside operator for the Broomhill Pool site; they also removed the offer of the million pounds towards restoration - it was due to expire on 31st December 2009 and the Executive chose not to extend the offer past this date.
Despite the loss of the million pounds, the press coverage immediately after this was positively euphoric "Hopes high for future of pool" ran the headline in the Star Advertiser (December 24th 2009) "Hopes rose last week that Broomhill Pool could be open for business again in the summer of 2013. Members of the borough's Executive approved a proposal to hand over the lido to a private sector operator who would restore the pool and bring it back into use."
(There was zero mention in the glowing publicity that the Council might consider bids from operators who did not want to re-open the pool as a pool.)
However, the Council stated publicly in December 2009 that three operators wanted to pursue the matter and February 10th 2010 was given as the deadline for proposals to be submitted. I tabled Questions at the Ipswich Borough Council meeting in February about the timetable for considering the operators' bids and was told that a fourth operator had now emerged and that the deadline had been extended to the end of March. Therefore it is obviously going to be April, at the very earliest, before the bids are evaluated and this will effectively rule out a declaration before the General Election. This is not a good sign - if there was genuinely good news for Broomhill Pool then the Council Executive would undoubtedly be sharing that with the electors.
As a further twist to the tale the Cultural and Leisure Needs Analysis conducted by PMP Genesis and made public in February 2010 stated that the Council had not identified any private sector interest in managing the Pool:
Paragraph 3:56 Broomhill Pool, a 50 metre outdoor pool with Grade II status, closed in 2002 and has remained closed since. The Broomhill Trust is a significant lobbying group which aims to restore Broomhill Pool for full public use. A feasibility study commissioned by the Trust and completed in 2006 suggested that that the Pool can be restored, with 9 months work, at a cost of £3.9 million. The future of the Pool therefore relies on gaining further lottery and government funds and securing a suitable pool operator.
Paragraph 3:57 It is understood that Council discussions with private sector operators have not identified private sector interest in managing the Pool. This is in keeping with pmpgenesis' experience of the market where private sector operators are not typically interested in outdoor swimming pools since their financial sustainability is too contingent on the weather.
It needs to be particularly noted that the above statements are being made in a survey designed to carry the council through to 2015 and this will be treated as the official version of what those needs are and what the resources are. PMPGenesis have painted a negative view of the lido and there is no recognition at all that a number of lidos have been successfully saved and restored elsewhere in the country.
In December 2009 the Executive met and formally resolved to pursue Option 2 of a range of options ie pursuing this option of an outside operator for the Broomhill Pool site; they also removed the offer of the million pounds towards restoration - it was due to expire on 31st December 2009 and the Executive chose not to extend the offer past this date.
Despite the loss of the million pounds, the press coverage immediately after this was positively euphoric "Hopes high for future of pool" ran the headline in the Star Advertiser (December 24th 2009) "Hopes rose last week that Broomhill Pool could be open for business again in the summer of 2013. Members of the borough's Executive approved a proposal to hand over the lido to a private sector operator who would restore the pool and bring it back into use."
(There was zero mention in the glowing publicity that the Council might consider bids from operators who did not want to re-open the pool as a pool.)
However, the Council stated publicly in December 2009 that three operators wanted to pursue the matter and February 10th 2010 was given as the deadline for proposals to be submitted. I tabled Questions at the Ipswich Borough Council meeting in February about the timetable for considering the operators' bids and was told that a fourth operator had now emerged and that the deadline had been extended to the end of March. Therefore it is obviously going to be April, at the very earliest, before the bids are evaluated and this will effectively rule out a declaration before the General Election. This is not a good sign - if there was genuinely good news for Broomhill Pool then the Council Executive would undoubtedly be sharing that with the electors.
As a further twist to the tale the Cultural and Leisure Needs Analysis conducted by PMP Genesis and made public in February 2010 stated that the Council had not identified any private sector interest in managing the Pool:
Paragraph 3:56 Broomhill Pool, a 50 metre outdoor pool with Grade II status, closed in 2002 and has remained closed since. The Broomhill Trust is a significant lobbying group which aims to restore Broomhill Pool for full public use. A feasibility study commissioned by the Trust and completed in 2006 suggested that that the Pool can be restored, with 9 months work, at a cost of £3.9 million. The future of the Pool therefore relies on gaining further lottery and government funds and securing a suitable pool operator.
Paragraph 3:57 It is understood that Council discussions with private sector operators have not identified private sector interest in managing the Pool. This is in keeping with pmpgenesis' experience of the market where private sector operators are not typically interested in outdoor swimming pools since their financial sustainability is too contingent on the weather.
It needs to be particularly noted that the above statements are being made in a survey designed to carry the council through to 2015 and this will be treated as the official version of what those needs are and what the resources are. PMPGenesis have painted a negative view of the lido and there is no recognition at all that a number of lidos have been successfully saved and restored elsewhere in the country.
Friday, 1 January 2010
2010 General Election: Broomhill Pool
As the 2010 General Election comes sharply into focus, the future of the Grade II Listed Olympic-sized lido in Ipswich remains an ongoing issue for both the constituency of Ipswich and the Central Suffolk & North Ipswich one. Independent Candidates are likely to stand in both areas with Broomhill Pool as one of the main points of their electoral campaign.
The Conservative/Lib Dem Executive at Ipswich Borough Council were keen enough to criticise the Labour councillors for closing the pool in 2002, but after five years in power themselves have actually delivered nothing except a great deal of hot air and much dithering. Their much vaunted offer of a million pounds towards restoration (made just before the 2005 General Election) has been taken off the table, precisely at the moment when it might have been needed.
Councillor Judy Terry likes to point to the fact that they financed the Feasibility Study by voting through over £58,000 in August 2005, but this money was actually the £64,000 voted through by Labour for a Heritage Lottery bid in 2004 - the new Conservative administration simply allowed this money to be suspended in aspic whilst they did absolutely no work at all on a possible bid for Heritage Lottery funding. The Broomhill Pool Trust was therefore offered over £5,000 less for the Feasibility Study than the Council had awarded themselves.
Under the Conservative/Lib Dem alliance this heritage pool has simply suffered ongoing neglect and repeated vandalism whilst all the positive work has been done by the Broomhill Pool Trust and other campaigners.
The Conservative/Lib Dem Executive at Ipswich Borough Council were keen enough to criticise the Labour councillors for closing the pool in 2002, but after five years in power themselves have actually delivered nothing except a great deal of hot air and much dithering. Their much vaunted offer of a million pounds towards restoration (made just before the 2005 General Election) has been taken off the table, precisely at the moment when it might have been needed.
Councillor Judy Terry likes to point to the fact that they financed the Feasibility Study by voting through over £58,000 in August 2005, but this money was actually the £64,000 voted through by Labour for a Heritage Lottery bid in 2004 - the new Conservative administration simply allowed this money to be suspended in aspic whilst they did absolutely no work at all on a possible bid for Heritage Lottery funding. The Broomhill Pool Trust was therefore offered over £5,000 less for the Feasibility Study than the Council had awarded themselves.
Under the Conservative/Lib Dem alliance this heritage pool has simply suffered ongoing neglect and repeated vandalism whilst all the positive work has been done by the Broomhill Pool Trust and other campaigners.
Thursday, 1 January 2009
Will 2009 see victory for Broomhill Pool campaign?
This is the seventh year of a campaign to save Broomhill Pool in Ipswich and certainly the most urgent.Ipswich Borough Council are the owners of this Grade II Listed lido and, until recently, have been content to leave the site simply derelict, since its closure in the autumn of 2002.
In the second week of December 2008, however, reports appeared in the local newspapers stating that the Council were planning major investment in their swimming facilities. This "investment" included the revamp of some very old news that nearly £4 million would be spent on the Crown Pools complex: this money had in fact been voted through early in 2005 and was originally part of a detailed and rolling programme of improvement to spend £1million a year on Crown Pools. Most of this money was never actually spent because IBC wanted to explore the option of building a completely new 50 metre Olympic pool. That plan has now been shelved and the £4 million will now be resurrected to improve the complex.
Fore St Baths in Ipswich will receive £300,000 for refurbishment - a reprieve for this pool, as it was earmarked for closure if the new 50 metre pool idea had been actioned.
The "good news" about refurbishments for Crown Pools and Fore St Baths was very cleverly used to deflect attention from the "health and safety" measures outlined for Broomhill Pool. These consisted of draining the pool, removing the diving boards and replacing the water with some innate material like foam. Indeed , this promotion of a "massive makeover" for the swimming pools of Ipswich was done so effectively that even the BBC website has reported that IBC have "pledged to spend over £100,000 on repairs" at the Broomhill Lido.
It takes a far closer inspection of the Pools Devpt Options report to realise that the Council are intending to dump £55,000 worth of sand and £20,000 worth of granular infill in the pool and that Listed Building Consent has not been sought for this.
The English Heritage website offers advice on all aspects of managing Listed Buildings
http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.19378 so there is no excuse for the Council's failure to consult them.
Without a doubt, the move to fill the pool in (voted through on 16th December 2008) represents by far the greatest threat to restoration hopes during this long-fought campaign.
The Sunday Telegraph spoke of Prince Charles' wish to save Britain's heritage during the credit crunch, through the work of the Prince's Regeneration Trust, so I have e-mailed the Trust in the hope that they may be able to support efforts to save the Ipswich Lido.
Friday, 19 December 2008
Option B1: "Mothball" Broomhill Pool until unitary authority established
This option was voted through by the Executive Committee of Ipswich Borough Council on 16th December 2008:-
Option B1 "Mothball" until unitary authority established.
Drain pool and clear of debris £3,000
Granular fill or similar to base to ensure ground pressure £20,000
Fill with sand or similar material £55,000
Dismantle and secure diving boards £1,000
Remove loose timber and items from view £1,000
Block up apertures to prevent access £10,000
Professional fees £13, 500
Contingency £9,000
My comment: as stressed in the first post, Listed Building Consent has not yet been obtained for these major changes to a Grade II Listed Building.
Option B1 "Mothball" until unitary authority established.
Drain pool and clear of debris £3,000
Granular fill or similar to base to ensure ground pressure £20,000
Fill with sand or similar material £55,000
Dismantle and secure diving boards £1,000
Remove loose timber and items from view £1,000
Block up apertures to prevent access £10,000
Professional fees £13, 500
Contingency £9,000
My comment: as stressed in the first post, Listed Building Consent has not yet been obtained for these major changes to a Grade II Listed Building.
End of the line for Broomhill Pool?
On 16th December 2008 the Executive Committee of Ipswich Borough Council met to discuss a report entitled the Pools Development Options report.
This report looked at the options available for the "short to medium term future" of the swimming pools owned by Ipswich Borough Council including Crown Pools, Fore St Baths and Broomhill Pool.
For the Crown Pools complex and for Fore St Baths there is council support, but the option voted through for the Broomhill Lido was dire indeed and is likely to spell the end of any hopes for restoration of this Olympic-sized pool.
Broomhill Pool was opened originally in 1938 and for over 60 years was one of the highlights of the summer season in Ipswich. However, in the autumn of 2002 the gates closed and in February 2003 the local Evening Star made headlines with their Broomhill is Doomhill announcement.
A continuous campaign has been fought to try and save this Grade II Listed pool and a bid for Heritage Lottery Funding was submitted in March 2008 by the Broomhill Pool Trust, with high hopes that it would be successful as it was backed, apparently, by the offer of £1 million from the Council.
In September 2008 the bid was rejected, with the HLF spokesman saying that they needed to see more commitment from Ipswich Borough Council: the £1 million had been promised, but not secured, they said.
The Council's response to the request for more "commitment" was given in this Pools Option report discussed on 16th December and shows that they simply intend to fill the lido in with "granular infill or similar" and "sand or similar". Altogether an estimated £113,000 will be spent on draining the pool, dismantling the diving boards and filling the pool in with £55,000 worth of sand and £20,000 of the granular infill and once this is done, any chances of restoration will be very greatly reduced.
This Pools Development Options was prepared after consultation with the Chief Executive, the Portfolio Holder for Arts, Culture and Leisure, the Head of Finance etc. BUT....... there was no consultation with English Heritage or the Twentieth Century Society or the Council's own Conservation experts.
At the Committee meeting itself, verbal reassurances were given that there would be consultation with heritage organisations after the vote had been taken; but there were no amendments to Option B1 for Broomhill Pool and no written confirmation of such consultation.
The Council are aware that i) Listed Building Consent should be obtained and ii) that failure to obtain such consent can lead to prosecution. But no guarantees were given that Listed Building Consent would actually be obtained before tons of sand and granular infill were poured into our lido.
This Grade II Listed 1938 lido is therefore very much at risk. The Council's decision to prepare a report on making major changes to a Listed property without heritage consultation is a very serious one indeed; I can only infer from this, that they did not believe English Heritage would give consent for these particular measures.
This report looked at the options available for the "short to medium term future" of the swimming pools owned by Ipswich Borough Council including Crown Pools, Fore St Baths and Broomhill Pool.
For the Crown Pools complex and for Fore St Baths there is council support, but the option voted through for the Broomhill Lido was dire indeed and is likely to spell the end of any hopes for restoration of this Olympic-sized pool.
Broomhill Pool was opened originally in 1938 and for over 60 years was one of the highlights of the summer season in Ipswich. However, in the autumn of 2002 the gates closed and in February 2003 the local Evening Star made headlines with their Broomhill is Doomhill announcement.
A continuous campaign has been fought to try and save this Grade II Listed pool and a bid for Heritage Lottery Funding was submitted in March 2008 by the Broomhill Pool Trust, with high hopes that it would be successful as it was backed, apparently, by the offer of £1 million from the Council.
In September 2008 the bid was rejected, with the HLF spokesman saying that they needed to see more commitment from Ipswich Borough Council: the £1 million had been promised, but not secured, they said.
The Council's response to the request for more "commitment" was given in this Pools Option report discussed on 16th December and shows that they simply intend to fill the lido in with "granular infill or similar" and "sand or similar". Altogether an estimated £113,000 will be spent on draining the pool, dismantling the diving boards and filling the pool in with £55,000 worth of sand and £20,000 of the granular infill and once this is done, any chances of restoration will be very greatly reduced.
This Pools Development Options was prepared after consultation with the Chief Executive, the Portfolio Holder for Arts, Culture and Leisure, the Head of Finance etc. BUT....... there was no consultation with English Heritage or the Twentieth Century Society or the Council's own Conservation experts.
At the Committee meeting itself, verbal reassurances were given that there would be consultation with heritage organisations after the vote had been taken; but there were no amendments to Option B1 for Broomhill Pool and no written confirmation of such consultation.
The Council are aware that i) Listed Building Consent should be obtained and ii) that failure to obtain such consent can lead to prosecution. But no guarantees were given that Listed Building Consent would actually be obtained before tons of sand and granular infill were poured into our lido.
This Grade II Listed 1938 lido is therefore very much at risk. The Council's decision to prepare a report on making major changes to a Listed property without heritage consultation is a very serious one indeed; I can only infer from this, that they did not believe English Heritage would give consent for these particular measures.
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