Labour urge George Ferguson to think again over Speedwell Swimming Pool
LABOUR councillors are challenging Bristol mayor George Ferguson's plans to pull the plug on the new Speedwell Swimming Pool.
The group is urging the decision to be deferred as, they say, canceling the pool risks throwing down the drain £560,000 already spent on plans and preparations.
Councillors also believe that projected running costs – seen as prohibitive – were estimated as far too high and have asked officers to re-examine their figures. They say costs were comparable with Henbury Leisure Centre but far higher than Horfield Leisure Centre.
The planned pool would lose out in cuts made by George Ferguson's proposed budget.
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Ron Stone (St George West) said: "The new Bristol East Pool built at Brunel Academy would add to the gym already there. It would be the only leisure centre for miles and we believe demand has been underestimated.
"We need this pool – the old one closed down prematurely in 2005. There are new pools in the north and south of the city - our families and children deserve equal opportunity with rest of the city.
"We already have successful pools run in partnership with the city council. I'm confident we can get a workable deal for the new pool and leisure centre. The Mayor says he's always open to new ideas, but I'm beginning to wonder if that only applies to prestige projects in the city centre.
"We're asking for a short deferral to re-examine the projected figures and find the will to deliver on this much needed leisure centre."
The fate of the swimming pool lies in the council budget which will be finally decided at a meeting of the full council on February 26, at 2pm.
4 Comments
by BedmoRed
Wednesday, January 30 2013, 2:02PM
“Looks like the Labour councillors are behind the curve a bit, Steve Comers petition is already raking in quite a few signatures. http://tinyurl.com/anm4du5 Hope they can sort something jointly between them to save the plans, though need to propose where cash would come from.
Maybe leave the capital project in and prioritise it for next time.”
by Richard34
Wednesday, January 30 2013, 1:07PM
“I support the pool 100% but reading this is annoying:
"canceling the pool risks throwing down the drain £560,000 already spent on plans and preparations".
Where on earth has £560k been spent? Are we talking about over half a million pounds has been spent on drawings and quango management fee's?
At a time when people who deliver services on the ground at BCC are losing their jobs becuase of a government experiment to see how far they can cut services, we read that £560k has been wasted on 'Jobs for the friends'.
Local people would have delivered what's been done already for free with the support of local university student teams looking for real world projects. It's time that wasting money on consultations is a thing of the past and essential services and employee's are saved. By cutting waste in quango fee's we can have this pool built and paid for. The cut's need to ensure that outside agencies and companies are only used there isn't a free alternative.”
by Tim_M
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 6:37PM
“"The Mayor says he's always open to new ideas, but I'm beginning to wonder if that only applies to prestige projects in the city centre."
That sounds rather disingenious. The rules are clear: Labour (or whoever) needs to identify what other capital projects in the budget should be scrapped instead to come up with the money for the pool, and what other spending should be scrapped to afford the running of the new pool. Other areas of the city may have gotten new pools, but they are also having projects scrapped. It's simply not true that this pool is *needed*, though it would certainly be nice to have.”
by lulu66
Tuesday, January 29 2013, 6:22PM
“Doubt he gives a monkeys. He isn't going to be using the pool.”