Concern that new Olympia Swimming Pool is Operating More Like a Private Sports Club

I have received a complaint from a constituent about the new admissions policy at the Olympia which I understand came into effect on 1st November 2013. 

With regard to access to swimming in the 50 metre pool between 6 - 8 am (the only time the 50m set up is in place) and 8 - 9.30 pm it is apparently necessary to both:

• a Leisure Active member, incurring a minimum charge of £19 per month paid from a bank account and
• apply to Dundee City Council for a National Entitlement Card to use as a swipe card to gain access to Olympia. 

For those that want to swim at these times and in particular swim in Dundee's only 50 metre pool, there is apparently no casual turn up and pay access to Olympia. During these times the Olympia seems to be operating more like a private health club and not like a publicly provided swimming pool.

If my constituent was right, this policy seems discriminatory because many folk in our city could not afford the monthly cost of a Leisure Active membership. It also seems to exclude folk who want to swim lengths and are not members of Swimming Clubs. While access to Olympia is more flexible later in the morning and afternoon, the fifty metre layout is not available during those times.

This seems to be contrary to the public service obligation which follows the Council's investment of £31,5 million in this new facility. As an elected member of the Council that supported the replacement of the Olympia, I didn't think this was what the Council was investing in.

I wrote to Stewart Murdoch in his twin capacities as Managing Director of Leisure and Culture Dundee and Director of Leisure and Communities with the City Council. I asked that, if  indeed this is the new policy at Olympia, he and the board of Dundee Leisure and Culture reconsider this.

In his reply Stewart Murdoch confirmed that Olympia had indeed discontinued the use of paper tickets for early morning swimming for non members although it was exploring the feasibility of a 'swim only' membership. This however doesn't address the issue I have raised. I have asked for a more comprehensive review into access arrangements at Olympia.

For Fairness in Dundee and Broughty Ferry

I welcome the draft For Fairness in Dundee Strategy and Action Plan on the Agenda of the Policy and Resources Committee on Monday 25 June 2012.  At a time when many household incomes are depressed by wage freezes or reductions, benefits are being cut back and household bills are rising, we need a strategy and action plan that will address poverty and deprivation throughout our city. While the statistics in the report show that inequalities are most concentrated in certain areas of the city, they also show that a smaller but significant minority of households in Broughty Ferry are affected by many of the indicators of poverty.

At the meeting, I will be asking whether the planned responses by the Council and agencies in the Dundee Partnership will really be fair if they exclude people living in parts of the city like Broughty Ferry. While The Ferry is generally more affluent, this is not universally true. This was illustrated by the statistics produced by the Dundee Citizens' Advice Bureau. Their annual report for 2011/12 shows that while the inquiry rate from people with Broughty Ferry addresses was lower than folk from other areas in the city, the problems that folk brought forward were the same across the city: benefit advice, debt and consumer issues.

I note in the report that we will be considering at the Policy and Resources Committee that advance consultation did not include the Broughty Ferry Local Community Planning Partnership. That and references to focusing responses on areas of multiple deprivation suggest that For Fairness in Dundee will be exactly that and will not extend to folk in Broughty Ferry. My job is to try to ensure that the benefits from the new strategy and action plan are widespread. Fairness needs to be seen to be fair not excluding people from participating in programmes and initiatives just because of their DD5 address.