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| Ladywell baths © Max Calo |
1 Make better use of outdoor pools. The ‘bubble’ that will be placed over London Fields Lido to make it usable in the winter could be the way forward for outdoor pools, making heated lidos more economically viable.
2 The Mayor should put greater pressure on boroughs to provide swimming facilities. Although he has no jurisdiction over sports provision, he does have the power to step in in exceptional circumstances. For example, he recently rescued Crystal Palace pool and offered to step in to save Hampstead ponds.
3 Private sports facilities and school pools should commit to agreements with local authorities to provide free and better access to pools for clubs, children, students and pensioners.
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4 Boroughs should audit their pool provision and develop an action plan to meet the shortfall.
5 Local authorities must take the lead and work with health authorities to prioritise swimming, incorporating pool funding into their health budgets.
6 Councils should regard pool campaigners as potential partners and an asset not a threat.
7 The government must make the national curriculum accountable in swimming, as it is in all other areas. How can it be acceptable that half the school children in Hackney can’t swim?
8 The debate must continue. If we can afford the Olympics, we can surely afford good local facilities, too.
An Early Day Motion on pool provision is going through Parliament. Download our 'Save Our Pools' petition
and send it to your local MP. You can find their address at
www.parliament.uk. For a list of MPs yet to sign the motion click here.
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1 comment
The UK is just so far behind in the availability of 50 meter competition pools than many less populated and certainly less funded countries in the world.
We have a new 50m pool opened recently called the K2 sports centre in Crawley, West Sussex but the actual 50m pool itself is only open for 60-90 minutes in the morning mon - fri. How awful is that! Many people would love to swim in this size pool for health and fitness but get taken way back to the back of the line as the swimming clubs always have preferental treatment over the public into using the 50m pool. I understand the facility can get a dual purpose and increased revenue out of splitting the pool down the middle, but surely it defeats the whole point of advertising the 50m pool as such!?
At least give the public and other clubs the chance to be able to experience the 50m pool in all it's glory in the morning, afternoon, evening and weekends, and not just for the few that are able to get up at some ungodly hour in the morning and swim before work!