Grove Swimming Pool Sunday Closure

Leisure and Culture Dundee announced in a Facebook posting last Friday that Sunday swimming at Grove Academy has been cancelled for the foreseeable future. I was concerned when I heard about this from a constituent. It was clear that a service was being denied for members of Leisure and Culture Dundee as well as for those who turn up for an occasional swim on a Sunday. It is all very well directing swimmers to other pools in the city but that is not necessarily a feasible nor convenient option. I contacted Stewart Murdoch, Director of Leisure and Culture Dundee. He clarified that the closure had been necessitated by a lack of qualified life guards. A number had left at the same time and it would take a while to recruit replacements. In many cases the potential life guards would need to be put through the qualifying training programmes before they were available to start work. Clearly Leisure and Culture Dundee have been caught unprepared at a time when they should have been working towards an expansion of their pool of qualified life guards. Leisure and Culture Dundee are soon to assume responsibility for managing the swimming pool at the new Harris Academy but right now can't quite keep all their current pools open. I have asked for a date when Sunday opening of the Grove Academy pool resumes.

New Olympia Swimming Pool Construction Starting Soon

Earlier this evening, at the Policy & Resources Committee, we approved the acceptance of a tender for the construction of a new city centre swimming pool. The new pool complex will be constructed on the Allan Street car park site. Work on the £24 million pound contract will begin in January 2011. The contract includes provision for competitive and leisure swimming as well as a multi-storey car park. After the new swimming centre opens, towards the end of 2012, the old Olympia can be demolished as part of the redevelopment plans for the city centre waterfront.

Red Letter Day for Broughty Ferry

On Saturday 3 April, the Sports and Recreation facilites at Grove Academy were openend to the public for the first time. This was, I think, a red letter day in Broughty Ferry.

The opening of the swimming pool fulfills a commitment made in the 1913 Act of Parliament that annexed Broughty Ferry to Dundee. While this long overdue pledge may have been forgotten, the need for accessible sports and recreation facilities in the heart of the ferry is nonetheless keenly felt by today's residents. I am delighted that the Labour led council's PPP school building programme has delivered these outstanding new facilities for Broughty Ferry. They are available for the pupils of Grove academy every school weekday and now for residents in the evenings, at weekends and during the school holidays. I am sure they will make a significant contribution to enhancing our recreation and health.

As more adults pass through the school's main entrance into the sports wing, week by week, I hope it will strengthen the relationship between the community and its outstanding comprehensive school.

Click here to find out more details on the new swimming and sports facilities at Grove Academy.