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

Brynaman Pool - no funds for repairs claims Carmarthenshire County Council

Traditionally the Brynaman Pool in Wales opens in time for the summer holidays; this is the last lido in Wales and Carmarthenshire County Council claim to be proud of it.

However, actions always speak louder than words and just as the pool was due to open, the council informed devastated residents that £20,000 worth of repairs was needed which the council could not afford. Their normal maintenance budget is about £2,000 - £3,000 and the harsh winter weather, they claim, had damaged the pool more than they'd realized.

I find it hard to believe their pleas of poverty: this is the council which is willing to spend far in excess of £100,000 per annum just to distribute their self-congratulatory "Community News". six times a year. Their expenditure on consultants is also likely to be excessive because in reply to a Freedom of Information request they claimed the information would take too long to collate!
They were also mentioned by Watchdog for wasteful practices in regard to their use of chauffering services: the hire of a lease car, fuel etc came to more than £12,000 and this did not include the cost of wages for the drivers.

The picture becomes even less believable when you consider that the local Brynaman Swimming Pool group offered a £5,000 contribution towards the £20,000, but the county council (with a budget in excess of £500 million) still claim they cannot contribute the remaining £15,000.

At the moment Carmarthenshire County Council are saying that the pool is not closed: it simply won't open this year! They are promising that it will be open again in 2011, but I think the pool is greatly at risk of never opening again. Leisure Consultants Torkildsen Barclay advised the Council back in 2000/2001 to step back from funding the pool: outdoor pools are seen by such bodies as "poor value for money" because they are "weather dependent" and only open six weeks a year."

The fact that local children look forward greatly to these particular six weeks cuts no ice with those being chauffered around at considerable expense to council taxpayers.

I hope that those trying to save the pool will not too readily believe the council's assurances for 2011.

The Straight Choice - Election Leaflet website

A website called The Straight Choice is encouraging people to photograph any leaflets they receive and upload them onto the website; you can search by constituency or postcode for your own particular area. Ipswich has quite a number of leaflets uploaded but many constituencies have none at all.

http://www.thestraightchoice.org

Ipswich Community Radio (ICR) interviews General Election candidates

Ipswich Community Radio (ICR) has been offering all the General Election candidates a chance of an interview on their Breakfast shows and a chance to take part in a programme called "Charlie's Hat" (the Ipswich edition of Desert Island Discs!)

The Listen Again feature will have the Charlie's Hat programme for all the participating candidates until May 6th

http://www.icrfm.co.uk/

UCS Election Special for Ipswich Parliamentary Candidates

On May 4th the UCS Students Union are hosting an election hustings for students and staff at UCS:

http://www.ucsunion.com/node/390

All candidates were invited as far as I know and confirmed attendees so far include:

• Mark Dyson (Liberal Democrat)
• Chris Streatfield (UKIP)
• Chris Mole (Labour)
• Ben Gummer (Conservative)
• Tim Glover (Green Party)
• Sally Wainman (Independent)
  

Venue:- Waterfront Building Ipswich

Time: 1pm

River and Lake Swimming Association (RALSA) support Broomhill campaign

RALSA - RIVER AND LAKE SWIMMING ASSOCIATION -
BACKS THE BROOMHILL POOL CAMPAIGN

RALSA are showing their support for the Broomhill Pool campaign by headlining my parliamentary candidature at the top of the Home Page. Many thanks to Yacov Lev for flagging this up:

http://www.river-swimming.co.uk/

Outdoor Swimming Society show their support for Broomhill Pool

The Outdoor Swimming Society have posted an article about Broomhill Pool on their website, in support of the campaign generally and in favour of my candidature in the forthcoming General Election:

See their news section:

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

Jonathan Knott was the interviewer.