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Stoke-on-Trent city council has gone ahead with proposals to close down the city's gymnastics centre and Tunstall swimming pool at a time when the Government are trying to get more people involved in sport. Will my hon. Friend see that his officials urgently consider whether funding can be made available with a joint, holistic approach, so that the inequalities in a place such as Stoke-on-Trent can be reversed and we can get more people, not fewer, to participate in sport?
Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent North, Labour)
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/debates/?id=2010-01-18a.14.1&s=speaker:106...

http://pitsnpots.co.uk/news/2010/01/save-tunstall-pool

Having found out about Children's swimming lessons at Tunstall Pool via a teacher at Goldenhill Primary at the end of last week, we have been tonight to sign our son up for lessons starting from Saturday.

I must say having not been to Tunstall Pool for about 9 years, although not a lot has changed in the inside, ie the lockers and cubicles it was still as clean as it was all those years ago and you can still smell the "swimming pool taste" of all pools.

Having watched the kids who were having lessons tonight, they all looked as if they were enjoying themselves and the teachers were fantastic with the kids.

I will now be off to sign the petition to save Tunstall pool.

Stoke-on-Trent swimming pool for the disabled to close
From: Staffslive | 05 February 2010 | 0 views
By James Bell and Jon Gilmore. Shelton Swimming Pool in Stoke-on-Trent is the only pool in the area with disabled facilities, but could soon be closed by the City Council. The building needs £550,000 of maintenance repairs carried out on it, but budget cuts have put its future in danger.

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Thank you for writing to me to express your concerns about the reports that Stoke-on-Trent City Council are planning to close Tunstall Baths.

Like many people I learnt to swim at Tunstall Baths and so understand its importance to the local community. I do not support the proposed closure and have been working hard behind the scenes trying to secure a future for the pool.

I believe that there are various approaches to the problem. Firstly, the Council and the Local Strategic Partnership need, in my view, to audit the way in which current usage of the pool contributes towards the Comprehensive Area Assessment targets to which they are committed to. For example, the Council is targeted with increasing numbers of people participating in sport and they need to consider the effect closing Tunstall Pool would have on achieving these targets.

Secondly, I would like to see the Council urgently revive its objective to implement a sports strategy for the city. I have urged them to do this over the last few years and I have supported the idea of a sports village in the north of the city. This was also supported by Sport England and talks were well advanced following a sports summit at Crewe Hall. However, this appears to have lost momentum, although a detailed visit to see best practice at Telford did take place. Within the sports village I would like to see the Council upgrade Tunstall pool (and also Shelton which has a special role for people with disabilities) and, as well as protecting what we already have, go for funding for a new replacement pool which was always promised when Dimensions was being planned. The original plan for Dimensions was for a full size pool and a splashpool but in the end only the splashpool was built. We need to re-instate plans to build a proper swimming pool at Dimensions and urgently seek capital funding for this.

The Government has also made significant sums of money available for local authorities to improve swimming facilities. To coincide with the introduction of free swimming for those under 16 and over 60, the Government made £60 million available for upgrading and refurbishing existing swimming facilities. There are many examples of local authorities across the country accessing this money to improve swimming facilities and this seems like a missed opportunity for Stoke-on-Trent. In the West Midlands for example Wyndley Pool in Birmingham installed a moveable boom into the pool and Haden Hill Leisure Centre in Sandwell refurbished changing rooms and built a new reception area. These are just two of many examples.

My view has always been that the Council’s swimming policy needs to be synchronised with other policy areas. As well as the Local Strategic Partnership’s commissioning role, there are other funding streams which I have persistently urged the Council to pursue. The Council may have a limited budget for capital expenditure but in my view it should prioritise drawing down other funding streams by linking sport to other areas such as regeneration and education policy. For example, I pressed the Amateur Swimming Association to support the upgrade of James Brindley High School pool and we were able to secure Lottery funding. I also strongly encouraged the Council to work with the swimming association and Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent but I understand that the Council was waiting to agree its sport strategy before discussing swimming.

Given the widespread concerns that now exist following the disclosure that Tunstall (and Shelton) were under threat, I welcome the assurances that the new Chief Executive of the Council has given me that no decision will be made in this financial year. Now that any decision has been put on hold, I am calling for urgent round table talks between all partners including Tunstall bath users and Sport Across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to explore what options could be on the table to secure a future for the pool so that it is economic to run and in keeping with its heritage listed status.

I hope this gives a flavour of the efforts I have been making behind the scenes to secure a future for Tunstall pool and our other sports facilities. I thank you for your efforts campaigning on this issue and I can assure you that I will continue to do all I can to support you in trying to safeguard swimming facilities in our constituency.

Yours Sincerely

Joan Walley MP

The Sentinel are reporting today about further support from the community for both pools threatened with closure

http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/news/Closing-swimming-pools-affect-...

TWO swimming pools threatened with closure have won support from an influential group – but they could still be shut.

Members of Stoke-on-Trent City Council's adults and older people's wellbeing overview and scrutiny committee refused to recommend the closure of Shelton and Tunstall Pools. But the council's cabinet can still opt to shut the facilities in a bid to save £162,000.

Committee members were told Shelton Pool, pictured, was a liability, with a maintenance backlog of £524,300.

And officers insisted the pool, which is used by disabled and elderly people, would not be suitable for management by a trust or a community group due to the extent of the work which needs doing there. This includes the replacement of the heating system, which is expected to fail in the next few months.

Further work costing £52,500 will be needed in the next five years to ensure the pool remains up to industry standard.

And the steel reinforcements in the pool walls and floor have started to corrode and deteriorate.

It is not yet known how much this would cost to repair but it is expected to be at least a six-figure sum.

Hazel Lyth, far right, cabinet member for sport, leisure and culture, told the committee that paying for the maintenance work would be a waste of money.

She said: "If we invest that massive amount in Shelton, we will never get a return. We will just keep investing more and more money."

She added: "It would be very nice if members of the community could take over the pool. But this is about the transfer of a huge liability – we can't do that to the community."

Tony Oakman, director of adult social care, health and communities, said the council had approached Stoke-on-Trent Primary Care Trust to see if it had any interest in running the pool. He said: "The answer was categorically no."

Jackie Barnes has been visiting Shelton Pool for the last 16 years and is campaigning to save it from closure.

She said: "The warm and therapeutic waters make swimming and exercising comfortable.

"The closure of Shelton Pool will affect thousands of lives. We feel we should be treasuring this unique asset to Stoke-on-Trent."

Shelton Pool has a ramp and a special wheelchair which can take disabled people right into the water. There is also a hoist to allow paralysed people to use the pool.

According to council figures, around 76,000 people used Shelton Pool last year, 2,773 of whom were disabled.

Officers at the city council have been in talks with other pools to find alternative venues for swimmers.

They expect some users may be able to use hydrotherapy facilities at Haywood Hospital and Kemball School. Others will be encouraged to use Dimensions and Fenton Manor.

Councillor Barbara Beeston, who represents Hartshill and Penkhull, said: "If that pool could be put somewhere else and have all the same facilities, I don't think people would mind."

Councillor John Davis, member for Berryhill and Hanley East, said: "The biggest advantage we get from that particular pool is that it keeps people more active for longer."

He said he feared closing the pool would affect people's health and cost the authority in the long term.

Draining Shelton and Tunstall pools and boarding up the buildings would cost the council £15,000.

Tunstall Pool, which dates from 1888, is a listed building and cannot be demolished.

Councillor Jean Edwards, member for Burslem North, said: "It is one of the few Victorian baths left. We should be thinking about our heritage."

The pool needs maintenance work costing an estimated £360,000 to keep it open.

But Mrs Edwards said: "To me, £360,000 is worthwhile for keeping these baths. Our young children deserve to have their swimming lessons."

But the committee heard there was a glimmer of hope for Tunstall Pool as the Amateur Swimming Association has expressed an interest in helping set up a trust to run the pool.

But Mr Oakman said it was very difficult to make money from standalone swimming pools.

He said: "Commercial organisations have difficulties in making standalone pools pay themselves. Museums and Ford Green Hall are very different to swimming pools."

He said if the pools weren't closed, another service would have to be axed instead to save £36 million from next year's budget.

But Mrs Beeston said: "Go back to the drawing board and come up with something else so we can keep these pools open."

Ms Lyth said: "We are in a situation where we have a limited amount of money to go a very long way. We have to make a decision where that money should be invested.

"If there is the strength of feeling from people in the community to work with the council to save assets they believe are valuable, we will have a conversation with them about it."