Splashback – Save Leith Waterworld

The last post: Building Community on Sand

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:01:00 +0000

Article republished with kind permission of the good folk at Greener Leith

Back when Splashback campaigners thought they were working in partnership with the council to re-open Leith Waterworld, the group successfully won some funding for a community building sand castle competition day from Leith Decides.

The event was supposed to be a community engagement event – to celebrate and communicate the work done so far towards re-opening the leisure pool.

Months later, and although the council have now agreed to sell off the pool off for soft play instead, Splashback still had the cash to organise the sandcastle competition. So they did, as a celebration of what could of been and a thank you to all their supporters.

And so it goes that loads of folk turned out to take part in the first Leith Festival sandcastle competition, hosted on the “secret beach” outside Leith Docks.

There was food, and laughter, and kids and kites and accordion playing, not to mention competitive parents. Kudos therefore to the Splashback volunteers for coming up with a creative way to get people engaged in a public space which is hardly ever used, or even on many people’s radar.

In all there were about 20 entries in the sandcastle competition. The photo above shows the winning sand castle. And this Vine below, captures just some of the other amazingly creative sandcastles.

Of course, it wasn’t long until the tide came up and washed them all away, despite everyone’s hard work. A moment that, to some, seemed like a poignant reminder that you can’t build very much, for very long, if you have much greater forces working against you...

Sunshine on Leith (hopefully!)

noreply@blogger.com (Ida) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 13:41:00 +0000

All welcome to join us this Sunday for...

Sold Out

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 May 2013 23:55:00 +0000

Courtesy of Frank Boyle - Many thanks @Boylecartoon

Edinburgh's citizens respond to LWW sale

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 May 2013 11:10:00 +0000

Drained

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 30 May 2013 11:14:00 +0000

Splashback Statement on Council Decision, 30 May 2013

We are angry and dismayed that the City of Edinburgh Council has decided to pull the plug on Leith Waterworld and abandon their commitment to work with us. We have spent 15 months campaigning to save the pool and 4 months working intensively with council officers and councillors on a business plan for a revived pool.

The January amendment stated that the council would work with us on a feasibility stage until December 2013 and committed £125,000 to support this and intended a further £225,000 over 2 years if the plan was successful. This decision was against officers’ recommendations and seemed indicative of a genuine desire on the part of the Council to make a real commitment to cooperative working. This could have been a flagship project for community engagement. In chambers on 31^st January Richard Lewis said, “While there remains a tremendous amount of work to be done in the months ahead, we want to give the community the best possible chance of success by providing the necessary funding and support toward taking their proposals to the next phase.We owe it to the people of Edinburgh to do everything to preserve this valuable community asset”. The trust we placed in the Council that day has been broken.

Significant progress had been made through the working group; an application for charitable status had been made, tenders for engineering, design and consultancy services had been issued and positive engagement made with funders who were as excited as we were about the potential of this project. Despite this progress our work has been prematurely cut short, taking away the opportunity for the council to consider an alternative vision for Leith Waterworld. As a result, the council cannot make a comparison between what they have been offered and our proposal.

We do not believe the bid accepted by the Council is the best deal for Leith, for families, children, the disabled or the local community. Soft play delivers negligible health and wellbeing benefits.

Our campaign was not just about the building it was about the social benefits the amenity delivered. As such we have pressed the council to ensure that the £125,000 promised to the feasibility phase be ringfenced and utilised to address the deficiencies that exist in accessible and affordable swimming. We believe this funding should be used to secure free swimming for under 11s across the city as a minimum.

We are heartbroken that despite our best efforts we have not been able to save the pool. We recognise that this will be felt by many across the city. We would like to thank everyone for your overwhelming support for the campaign. Sadly on this occasion it has fallen on deaf ears but we would urge you to continue to hold your elected members to account. Thank you also to our partners and spouses and especially our children who have put up with all our hours of absence when we could have been swimming with them.

Johnny, Fiona, Jacqueline, Ida, Richard, Simon and Chris on behalf of Splashback

Blooms in Leith, 29 May 2013

An open letter to Councillors...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 28 May 2013 12:10:00 +0000

Dear Councillors,

As you know, for the past four months Splashback campaigners have been working in co-operation with a group of City of Edinburgh Council councillors and officials. Together we have been progressing our bid to reopen Leith Waterworld (LWW) as a community hub for health and wellbeing. This has been a shared endeavour and we have all made good progress.

We were therefore surprised and naturally dismayed to learn last week that the City of Edinburgh Council is considering an alternative bid for the site. While it would be unhelpful to draw comparisons between our own ongoing efforts to secure LWW’s future as a revitalised leisure pool run by a community-led social enterprise, and the proposal to redevelop the site as a commercial play venue, we wish to remind readers and the City’s decision-makers just what is at stake at the Full Council meeting this Thursday.

The Splashback campaign was born, in November 2011, to prevent the loss of a unique water facility for children, families and people with disabilities. We were concerned about three things 1. the potential future of the site in the heart of Leith 2. the impact that closure would have on the community and families in an area of known deprivation, and 3. the impact on children’s participation in swimming throughout the city at a time when not only is childhood obesity is on the rise, but also one in three kids leave primary school not being able to swim.

We were delighted when, on 31 January this year, the city’s Councillors overwhelmingly voted to work with Splashback until the end of the year and to develop a feasible business plan for a community-run Leith Waterworld.

We could do something special here” and “Don’t we owe it to the community to give this our best chance?” were just two phrases used by the Councillors that day. Finally we thought they got it.After over a year battling with us, they seemed to recognise the benefits the pool offers to our young people, to the disabled and to our communities. The Councillors seemed to recognise and signal that, rather than fighting, it would be better for all of us to work together on trying to secure a positive future for the site.

The decision that day appeared to reflect the administration's desire to work cooperatively with the citizens of Edinburgh, as set out in the new “Coalition Agreement, “A New Contract WITH the Capital” signed by the Labour and SNP councillors in May 2012 in order to secure the deal that led to an administration being formed.

Over the last four months, we have worked with Councillors and officials in good faith, and while there remains much still to do, we have made significant progress. We have gone out to tender for external advisers, applied for charitable status, put together a fundraising plan, applied for money to help us employ a development manager and had positive initial discussions with other potential funders.

On Thursday, the city’s Councillors therefore have to decide the following: will they stand by the commitment made in January in the Chamber and on record to the people of Edinburgh that they would work with the community to secure a positive future for the site? Will they continue to work with us in order to secure the best deal for toddlers, children, families and the disabled – making sure that there is affordable and adequate swimming facilities for ALL of our community? Or will they allow a commercial bid to derail the first cooperative project the Council has embarked upon with Edinburgh's citizens?

We ask that the Councillors consider this carefully and weigh up what is in the best interest of their constituents, whom they are, after all, elected to serve.

Splashback response to news of alternative bid for Leith Waterworld site

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 May 2013 21:39:00 +0000

Splashback, the campaign to re-open the closed leisure pool, Leith Waterworld, this evening responds to news that the City of Edinburgh Council is considering another bid for the site (as reported today on the STV Edinburgh news website...

Campaigners said: "We were delighted when, on 31 January this year, the city's Councillors overwhelmingly voted to work with Splashback and to establish a working group to develop the business plan for a community-run Leith Waterworld. This reflected the administration's desire to work cooperatively with the citizens of Edinburgh, as set out in the Capital Coalition agreement. Over the last three and a half months, we have worked with Councillors and officials in good faith, and while there remains much still to do, we have made significant progress, including developing a fundraising plan and applying for charitable status."

The development of Leith Waterworld as a community-led social enterprise would support the first two partnership commitments of the coalition, namely 'ensuring every child in Edinburgh has the best start in life' and 'reducing poverty, inequality and deprivation'. The coalition agreement acknowledged the breakdown in trust between the residents of Edinburgh and their elected representatives, and that the city will be able to judge the Council against the promises it makes in the agreement.

"Splashback understands that this new bid leaves Councillors with a decision to make at next week's Full Council meeting - whether to continue working with us to achieve a revitalised LWW, or to pursue the new bid. However, we have faith in the letter and the spirit of the amendment carried on 31 January, and believe that the conviction displayed by Councillors on that day will guide their decision. We look forward to continuing to work with the Council to deliver on the commitments they made in January."

we can't 'Get in'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 May 2013 10:01:00 +0000

The inspirational 'Get In' campaign... The brilliant Young Ambassadors from Save the Children calling out the barriers that young people face in accessing leisure opportunities - poverty, inequality - and the ensuing effects of exclusion - stress, poor mental health, isolation - and the possibilities for change.

These young campaigners are an inspiration to us... Thanks

Slippery when wet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 May 2013 12:30:00 +0000

Yesterday, the national agency, Scottish Swimming launched a new six week campaign, aimed at raising awareness of the health benefits of swimming.

‘You Can Swim’ is a motivational campaign for adults to raise awareness of the benefits of swimming, and to support pools offering opportunities to adults to learn to swim or develop their swimming ability.

Swimming is the sport for all – the sport for life. Everyone can learn to swim regardless of age, ability, gender, social class or background provided they have the right opportunities to do so, however, it is recognised that there needs to be more incentive and inspiration for adults to participate in any form of aquatic activity.

This comes hot on the heels of last weeks launch of 'Start to Swim', a two year £60k programme (£50k from company Scottish Salmon, £10k from Sport Scotland) launched at everybody's favourite kiddies pool - the Royal Commonwealth Pool by the Children and Young People Minister Aileen Campbell. Ms Campbell at the launch, said - “Swimming is a wonderful experience for parents and children to share. It is fun and helps keep us active and can give children basic water skills and build confidence"

Start to Swim is part of Scottish Swimming’s participation programme ‘Just Add Water’ which "aims to get people of all ages swimming for health, fitness and fun".

Phew! So three campaigns and it's clear that we got a problem (namely not enough people are swimming), and for clarity, it's great that the national agency is doing what it can through a range of campaigns to raise awareness of the benefits of swimming. The Commonwealth Games is focusing a few minds on the future and 'legacy'. A third of children in Scotland leave primary school unable to swim. And from our reading of figures it would appear that around only 1 in 8 kids in Edinburgh are regularly swimming... So whats the solution?

Now Ms Campbell may remember me - the week the Councillors were set to take the vote in the last administration, on whether to close Waterworld, I heard that she was in town, launching an early years programme at the Fort. I cycled down, arrived unannounced and waited for 40 minutes in the rain whilst the Minister had her photo taken inside. When the minster came out, I asked for two minutes and explained what was about to happen in Leith - the self same place chosen to launch a scheme to support parents at risk of isolation, deprivation and stress - that the sole pool in the area that specifically catered for toddlers and the disabled was going to be shut, with all the attendant impacts. To be fair she listened, look concerned and said she would do what she could.

As we know, the Councillors voted to close Waterworld that week.

It is our contention, and always has been that first and foremost we need to have adequate and affordable facilities that cater for ALL sections of our community. This way we can try to stem what we think is an alarming decline in swimming, for the future. That that is the first priority... and then we can provide the additional resources to encourage those who are not making the most of current facilities...

In another recent encounter with a influential politician, I met Dr Bridget McConnell, Head of Glasgow Life, at a conference on Article 31 - the UN Convention of the Rights of the Child. Article 31, often dubbed the forgotten article, ensures that “States Parties recognize the right of the child to rest and leisure, to engage in play and recreational activities…" . Dr McConnell spoke passionately about the right of children to play, and what Glasgow City Council were doing to ensure that in action, not just in words. In conversation after she alerted me to, and provided, a fantastic academic study, which she credited as changing the way that her organization thought about pools. As a direct result of reading the study, Glasgow Life adopted a policy of offering free swimming to all under 18's across the city of Glasgow.

In the study (uploaded below) it is clear that for officials "the swimming pool was reported as important amenity which was linked to health and wellbeing. However, few residents reported regular use of the pool for physical activity. Use of the pool facility for social contact was directly linked to reports of relief of stress and isolation, and improved mental health." For the actual users of the pool, the benefits went way beyond physical activity - instead they valued the role the amenity provides as a community hub, building and strengthening family & community links and friendships which, in the long run, made their lives easier to live....

That's whats on the table here, not just whether wee johnnie can swim a width.

Swimming Research by splashback

Rome of the North

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 10 May 2013 14:42:00 +0000

Roman baths

Well they say Rome wasn't built in a day... Well, don't tell anyone, but I think I know why... !

Its been three months since the decision was taken in Chamber that the City of Edinburgh Council would work in partnership with us, on the feasibility of the business case we submitted for their consideration. Whilst we believe that our figures stacked up, there was no doubt that we had to test some of our assumptions and undertake some development of our ideas and plans. However what really swung it that day in Chamber was that finally the Councillors realised the social case for a leisure pool - both for those living locally in Leith, but also for children and disabled people who were ill-served by other pools and who loved the flumes, chutes and the opportunity to spend some good fun quality family time together.

"We own it to the community to give this a go" and "We could do something special here" were just two sentences spoken by Councillors that day as they debated whether to take the leap of faith. We glad that they did, and have since set out to work with us in co-operation. There is no doubt that this process is quite new for us and them, and throughout the three months we have been feeling our way through a process, which to be fair is a wee bit slower than our normal speed of operating, as campaigners.

That said we have made a massive amount of progress together. We have established a working group of Councillors, Splashback and officials to take the work forward. We are meeting fortnightly (at 8am to allow us to fit it in with our work and family commitments!) to discuss how we progress our vision of a community led venture, providing a hub of activity at the foot of Leith Walk.

We have:

Devised a structure that allows us to work on the various workstreams we need to develop: legal and governance, fiance, fundraising, marketing, pool operations, 'dry' operations and site development.
Applied to become a SCIO (Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation), who will take on the feasibility phase and hopefully the running of the facility
Engaged with a broad range of experts - from engineers, design companies, voluntary organisations, community sports companies - to discuss ideas and possibilities.
Compiled a fundraising plan and are actively speaking to funders whose aims and values match ours.
Applied for a development grant to engage a dedicated Development Manager/s, who will assist us as we build capacity within the organisation
Developed a brief and are tendering for design and engineering works, scoping out what is possible and associated costs
Continued to meet weekly as a campaign group to discuss our progress.

We do so, with the continued awareness that the needs of toddlers, young families, the disabled and the economically disadvantaged are currently ill-supplied by pools in Edinburgh, since the closure of the much loved Waterworld. And we continue to press for remedying this through the provision of adequate and affordable swimming facilities, suitable for ALL members of our community.

So apologies for the radio silence on the blog as of late... Co-operation takes time! But, as we know Rome wasn't built in a day.

But boy, did it look good once they got there!!

Please do keep in touch, via the blog and our more regularly updated Twitter feed... More coming soon...

As it happens...

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:18:00 +0000

Cartoon courtesy of Frank Boyle, (published in Evening News, Fri 1 Feb 2013)

Dear Friends and supporters

Many of you will know, but great news! Last Thursday the City of Edinburgh Council agreed to work with us over the next 11 months to secure a future for Leith Waterworld. Obviously we are all elated - to get this far has been a huge amount of work, but we always believed that if we could articulate what Waterworld uniquely offered children, familes and the disabled across the city, AND show the depth of community support then we could get the Councillors on board.

Listening to the Councillors in the Chamber last Thursday, we were delighted to hear that the pressing social case for reopening the pool is now recognised and that the 'value' of the amenity is understood as not just being the cost of keeping the facility open, but also all the benefits that reopening brings to the community - i.e. it's true 'value'.

We knew that it was going to be a difficult decision for councillors to reject the officials report(which recommended rejecting our bid), but we believe it is the right decision. Now that the Councillors have endorsed our business plan, we can sit down with them and the officials, all with the same shared goal - how to reopen leith Waterworld. It has been a lot of hard work to get this far, and we know that there is a lot more hard work before we can reopen the facility - we need additional skills in governance, fundraising, pool operation and maintenance, engineering, heating, green energy, catering, etc.. - but now that we have this endorsement we can know gather the skills we need and work co-operatively to bring this fantastic facility back to life.

We're truly appreciative of all the support the campaign has had over the past 14 months - from people willing to get involved, to emails and messages of support from the community, from various agencies and local businesses to councillors advocating on our behalf... In fact, these are not just supporters OF the campaign - they ARE the campaign... In the Chamber last week, Leith councillor, Gordon Munro, said "We can do something special here..." We truly believe that...

Lots more to follow, but for now: You can listen to the deputation and the debate here, via the Council's webcast - drop down the timeline on right to 9.45 for start of deputation)

Here's the news as reported in Fridays Evening News and on STV

And below is a compilation of the action live, as it unfolded in the Chamber, from Twitter...

Water under the bridge

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 12:23:00 +0000

This time last year, in January 2012, the doors to Leith Waterworld were locked and the pool drained as the facility was officially closed. One year on, January 2013, and (excuse me) a lot of water under the bridge and Splashback are pleased to announce that we have submitted a bold plan to the Council to reopen the facility under community management.

Supporters will be aware that we submitted a bid to take over the facility as a community run leisure pool, when the closing date for the site was originally set for 7 August last year. In September, the Council met to discuss the offers for the site, which in fact amounted to one - ours. Whilst the councillors rejected the bid on the basis that it was 'commercially unacceptable' they saw the merit in pursuing our idea, and offered us a further four months to revise the bid, with the additional support and resources of the council. Our deadline for resubmission was 31 January.

Well, yesterday, after a lot of hard work and number crunching, we re-submitted our revised plan, a whole 9 days ahead of schedule! So what does the plan suggest? We have attached an executive summary below with our key points, highlighting both the social case for reopening and the financial case. We now believe we have got a solid case for reopening, but then we would say that! In fact our figures and assumptions have been tested through independent analysis. We have been able to engage both pool specialists and community enterprise experts to flesh out our ideas. We have got comparative costs for facilities in Scotland and the Council officials themselves have provided us with an assessment of the economic impact of reopening the facility.

Through running the facility as a community led iniatitive, we believe we can

provide a fun and enjoyable leisure destination for over 150,000 users per annum
reduce the subsidy required from Council for the pool to well under the Scottish average for pools - £260,000
In fact through increased soft play and additional revenue streams, we can bring the subsidy right down to circa £20,000 by year 3
In doing so we would bring potentially approx 60 jobs to the Leith area through direct employment and supply chains
and generate an additional £460,000 for the local Leith economy.
These benefits are in addition to the potential saving to public spending through increased wellbeing in the area.

We will be asking the Council on 31st January for an agreement in principle, to allow us to progress with more detailed planning and fundraising. At the end of six months, we would take the shared decision with the Council whether to progress to reopening, which is currently rescheduled for October 2013.

At various points during the last four months we have, out of necessity, been inside Waterworld. Whilst outside the building looks dilapidated, inside it is clear that we have a substantial, well-loved and importantly well-maintained asset. We want the best for Leith. Waterworld cost £14m twenty years ago, and to rebuild it now would be well over £20m.

With the massive success of the Olympics and the Paralympics last year and the Commonwealth Games next year, there is much talk, at the moment, of 'legacy'. There appears to be a growing awareness and understanding that yes whilst these elite events can provide an amazing spectacle, more than that participation and sport can make a real difference at community level. Dundee Council are currently building a new leisure pool at the cost of £31m, as are Perth at the cost of £15m. Edinburgh has had no leisure pool for over a year. We hope that the Council after reading our business plan, share with us, the desire to rectify that and reopen Leith Waterworld.

Please do email your local councillor if you too share our aim to reopen Waterworld.

Splashback Summary Jan13 by splashback

Baby steps!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 10:12:00 +0000

This weekend, Splashback held our first birthday party! A bouncy castle, drawing activities, a campaign update, architect's drawings, the launch of the 'Splashback' wristband, a singalong and a cake!!

Over seventy supporters dropped by to catch up with our progress, as we work towards resubmitting our bid at the end of January 2013 - great to see both old and new faces there!!

For those who couldn't make it - here's a wee slideshow we presented with the highlights of the campaign's first year!!

Happy birthday to us!

noreply@blogger.com (Ida) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 22:45:00 +0000

First Birthday Bash Sun 2 December

Splashback turns one this week, and here we are, still fighting to save Waterworld! When the campaign started up on 30 November last year, none of us were expecting to still be fighting this battle a year later, so...

To celebrate/commiserate, we're having a First Birthday Party, and you, our supporters, are invited.

WHEN: Sunday 2 December 2012, 10.30am-1pm (drop-in)
WHERE: Out Of The Blue Drill Hall, EH6 8RG
WHAT: Family-friendly party fun, an update on campaign progress, AV displays, food and drink (for sale). Bring some cash, we might persuade you to part with it in aid of the campaign! Drop-in, with update talk at 11.30am. All welcome.

See the event on Facebook

Coming home

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 12:07:00 +0000

To celebrate the return of Edinburgh's Olympic and Paralympian sporting heroes, and mark the forthcoming decision on the future of Leith Waterworld by Edinburgh Council ... Splashback has organised a one off night of film screenings...

We hope you can make it!

Click on flyer for more info...

Co-operation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 12:00:00 +0000

With two weeks to go until the decision is taken on the future of the Leith Waterworld site, Splashback is today publishing our bid to reopen the pool. The decision will now be taken in the Full Council meeting on 20th September.

We have worked over the last six months to put together what we believe is a viable plan for the reopening of Leith Waterworld. We have looked at the impact of closure and the potential benefits of reopening. The significant support that we have received from the third sector, businesses but most importantly from the public in Leith and the wider Edinburgh community, have convinced us that the reopening is both possible and desirable. From our survey we found that 74% of respondents now reported that they and their families were swimming less since closure. Within our bid, we set how we can safeguard the site and run it, not for the Council, but with the Council.

We would set up a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO) to lead and manage the operation.
We would reduce the requirement for subsidy from c. £340,000 to £273,000 in the first year, reducing to £223,000 in year 3.
This would bring the operating subsidy required in line and then under, the average subsidy for swimming pools in Scotland (£2.18 per visit x 126,000 visits = £274,680)
We would increase revenue streams through expanded soft play, a slight increase in pricing, opening for an additional day and offering special schools use during that day.
In the longer term, we would seek to reduce the heating costs through a phased programme of capital investment, using sources of grant funding available to charities and community organisations.

The Council are selling the ground lease for the site. We believe that we, the people of Edinburgh, already own Leith Waterworld, and as such we are bidding to buy the ground lease for £1. The decision will be based on achieving 'best value' for the city. Splashback believes that 'value' is not just about the cost, but about what something offers in return for that investment.

The benefits of swimming on people's health and wellbeing are numerous.
The benefits of providing a place where children can get comfortable in water as they learn to swim are well established.
The benefits of providing a pool that allows disabled people to enter with dignity are obvious.
The benefit of operating a leisure pool in an area where a third of all children live in poverty is just.
The benefits to the local economy of having an attraction that brings more people to the area ripple out beyond the amenity into the local community.

In May, the new Lab/SNP administration set out a new coalition agreement - "A Contract WITH the Capital" (our emphasis). The preamble states "We also need to acknowledge that there has been a breakdown of trust between the residents of Edinburgh and their elected representatives on the Council. That relationship needs to be repaired. It will not be accomplished quickly, or easily, but it needs to be addressed.

With the Local Government elections of 3 May 2012 over, this new contract with the capital marks a fresh start, with a Council willing to listen to local people and work together with local communities, business and the third sector. A Council where co-operation, fairness, accountability and responsibility really matter."

If the community bid makes sense to you:
All letters of support, gratefully received - splashbackedinburgh[at]gmail.com
Please also contact your local councillor to let them know that you support our bid to reopen Leith Waterworld.

FINAL Splashback Bid Document

Passing the baton on

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 10:46:00 +0000

On Tuesday 7th August, on a beautiful summer's day, Splashback formally handed our community bid to the Council, to operate Leith Waterworld.

We have spent a lot of time and hard work on the bid over the last six months, and we believe we have got a credible alternative - For clarity sake, we are not saying we would run the pool FOR the Council, we are saying we would run the pool WITH the Council. They are, after all (we hope) part of the community. We are now handing over the 'baton' to the Council, and it's up to them whether they run with it... whether they take the plunge... whether they make the leap of faith... (etc!)

We believe that through the investigation and research that we have undertaken, we have proved that Leith Waterworld is a unique facility in the north of Edinburgh. Our survey revealed that 74% of respondents (three-quarters!) reported that they were swimming less as a family since the closure. Rather than being a 'drain' omn public resources, in fact for an annual investment less that the average subsidy to Scottish swimming pools, we believe we can run this facility for the longer term benefit of the people of Leith and Edinburgh.

Whilst the nation is basking in the feelgood factor generated by this current generation's atheletes, Team Splashback is looking to the future - and asking that we have the chance to reopen Leith Waterworld as an investment in our children, our community and our future.

The Council will meet on 4 September to discuss the bids they have received, and to consider the future of the site. We will be publishing our bid, for the public to read shortly, so that we can gather letters and messages of support to take to the meeting. In the meantime, below is an article published in the Scotsman last week, in respond to the bid going in...

Article from The Scotsman

Gina Davidson: People power makes a splash

By GINA DAVIDSON

Published in The Scotsman, Thursday 9 August 2012

CAST your mind back to the heady days of the council election campaign and the promises that were being thrown around like so much wedding confetti by political parties desperate to win your vote.
The big pledge they all seemed to sign up to basically boiled down to becoming a more listening local authority, a more communicative council, indeed a council which would run the city in co-operation with its residents rather than handing down decisions taken behind closed doors and then attempting to prevent  dissent.

Who wouldn’t agree with that? Indeed, it could well be one of the  factors that won Labour – the main insitgator of co-operation – just enough votes to make it the largest group in the City Chambers, though not quite big enough to go it alone.

And when we spoke before the  election, Labour leader Andrew Burns told me that his vision of a “co- operative Capital” meant there would be a radical change to the way services were delivered, that the talents of people in communities would be utlitised and that the council would “help facilitate what they want to do”. Well right now there’s a perfect opportunity for proving that these pledges were about more than just words.

Earlier this week, the Splashback campaign group submitted proposals for the community to take over the running of Leith Waterworld – the saga of the closure of which has been told in much detail in the pages of this paper over the last few years.

Edinbugh Leisure seemed unable to make it financially viable (although the climbing centre at Ratho has been kept going despite massive losses) and handed it back to the city council to operate. It’s my understanding that the board of Edinburgh Leisure didn’t think for a minute that the council would just close it. But despite much local campaiging, that’s what happened and the last splash was heard in January. However, people power –which seems to be becoming a major force in Edinburgh, just look at the vocal strength of the cycling lobby –was angrily moved into action. Now Splashback has submitted a bid to the council outlining how it could take over the running of Waterworld, how it would boost income by extending opening hours and introducing soft play and more classes, and how it would reduce operating costs.

The outline of its plans don’t seem to be completely pie in the sky and it readily admits that a subsidy would still have to be forthcoming from the council, although it would be much smaller than is usually the case with such facilities.

Now there will be those who suggest that no subsidy should be paid to keep places like Waterworld going. That they should be able to pay their way, sink or swim so to speak. But this a community resource, not a chain of coffee shops or a private leisure club which relies on people forking out hundreds of pounds for the privilege of saying they’re a member.

Precedents have already been set. When the Crags Sports Centre was closed by Edinburgh Leisure a new charity was formed between Boroughmuir Blaze Basketball Club, basketballscotland and Castle Rock Edinvar Housing Association to reopen the place. It’s now thriving – even running holiday sports clubs for children this summer.

Similarly, the Queensferry Recreation Centre, another victim of cuts, has been taken over by the not-for-profit Queensferry Sports and Community Hub Company, created by Queensferry Rugby Football Club.

These places are still open because the people who used them valued them. It’s the same with Leith Waterworld – even if the costs of running a swimming pool are bound to be so much more than those of a gym hall.

And which councillor, given the wave of enthusiasm there currently is for all sporting endeavours thanks to the Olympics, would want to condemn an area of the city to having fewer places to be active? To leave very small children and the disabled, who find the warm waters of Waterworld more conducive to swimming than those of more ordinary pools, without the opportunity to go for a swim?
The newly refurbished Royal  Commonwealth Pool is a fantastic resource – the Team GB swimmers who used it before the Olympics would testify to that. But that shouldn’t mean other pools have to shut to accommodate the city having such a first-class  facility.

Leith Waterworld is now Labour’s and Andrew Burns’ first test on proving that they really believe in the co-op ideal and that they are the way forward for this city. Here is a place which the public wants open, which it’s prepared to run with just a little financial help from the council. It’s time the council stepped up to the podium and proved it’s got the will to see through its promises.

Where next?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 11:58:00 +0000

Photo by Anna Mitrović Kotúčková

To confirm: Splashback is taking time out from the Olympics, to prepare our community bid. We will be handing over our bid to the City of Edinburgh Council on Tuesday morning, in advance of the 7 August at 12 noon deadline.

Our campaign aim from the start, was to safeguard the future of Leith Waterworld and re-open the facility for the people of Edinburgh, and beyond. We were open to how this might be done, and we now believe that we have a strong case for how the pool's future could be secured by the community, for the community. That community is broad, and includes users, businesses, the voluntary sector, the social enterprise sector, lesiure operators and The City of Edinburgh Council.

Please support our bid with messages and statements of support of why you think the reopening of Leith Waterworld is important, either personally or professionally. The Councillors will be reviewing our case during August, and all support we get adds momentum. We will be collating the messages, stripping out the personal details and forwarding to the Councillors so they can review when they make the decision.

You can email us at splashbackedinburgh[at]gmail.com
Tweet us @splashback
Post us a message on our wall at our facebook page: www.facebook.com/saveleithwaterworld

Thanks for all the support the campaign has received over the last 9 months - we're ready to give birth to something new!

The Ugly Duckling

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Fun at the Leith Gala

Lots of people have been asking us what's happening with the campaign to re-open Leith Waterworld - we have, following the Council's decision to put the sale of the ground lease for the site on hold for six months until 7 August, been busy working towards building a community bid. Last Friday the new administration invited Splashback to join an internal briefing to new Leith/Leith Walk councillors on the current situation with Leith Waterworld. Below is the text of the briefing which we put together for the meeting on Tuesday...

"If the RCP is the ‘jewel in the crown’ of the Council/Edinburgh Leisure's swimming portfolio, then Leith Waterworld is the' ugly duckling' . The motion in Feb was to delay the sale of LWW to see if a community bid might be forthcoming. It was important to us, that Splashback was not mentioned in this motion – we always said that we were just one part of a community and that others would be needed. I don’t need to say that we consider the Council to be part of that community.

So what have we been doing for the last four months?

We have undertaken an extensive survey of the alternative sites both within and outwith Edinburgh, through our Homeless Itinerant Bathing Society (Edinburgh Branch) project – and we believe that we have comprehensively proved that there is nothing like LWW available locally. We have always said that Leith Waterworld is not a swimming pool – that it’s a playpark with water. Edinburgh Leisure is in agreement with us that there is now a gap in their portfolio.

We have been working on a business model, looking at future ways to increase the revenue whilst reducing the expenditure and we believe we have got a model that works, and that brings the subsidy required down to under the Scottish average of £2.18 per visitor, which would equate, according to the final years attendance, to a annual subsidy of £260,000. We believe that this makes this an issue of equality – we are not asking for more than is average. These figures have been discussed, tested and found to be credible in our meeting with council officials on 25^th May.

There is no doubt that they is more to be done on the figures – our projections don’t include any projected new income streams – such as an increased soft play/classes or increased opening hours. We also need to input the alternative pricing options we have uncovered through our market research. All of this takes time – a business plan is solely an exercise if it is not credible. At our meeting with officials it was great to test this, but we would value further expertise from the Council.

All business plans are built on solid, robust market research. We have sought comparators – Wester Hailes Pool and Dunbar Pool – and it is fair to say we have been frustrated in our efforts. People, I would suggest, view us as an itch rather than credible which is as you can imagine incredibly frustrating – we need the weight of the Council to assist us with this.

We have designed a survey and taken it out on a roadshow – from the Parents Like Us festival, to outside LWW itself, at the Leith Gala Day and hopefully this Sunday, Edinburgh Leisure permitting, at Royal Commonwealth Pool.

Leith Gala Day - running on Polish techno!

We have had numerous meetings to build a community of support for what we are trying to do – this is my fifth meeting this week alone! We are going to the Senscot Sport and Social Enterprise Conference in Glasgow this week to hear about other models of community run facilities in Scotland and further afield.

We have secured offers of help from:

Leith Community Council
Leith Links Community Council
Leith Traders Association
SENScot
Community Enterprise Scotland
SportsScotland
Community Development Trusts Association
The Atlantis Community Leisure Pool, Oban
David Lloyd Leisure – who are willing to get us an independent look at Edinburgh Leisure’s capital estimates
Various Councillors
Not least the support of the public in Leith and in the wider Edinburgh community.

All of this takes time to build and time to secure. We have met with council officials to discuss our potential bid, and in truth, we feel we have the door has been answered but the Council are not sure whether to let us in yet.

At the moment we have got various parties to the table: the one seat not taken up is that of the Council.

We are pleased that perhaps we are seeing a more co-operative approach – our invite today is proof we hope of the new administration’s desire to be a co-operative Council. We hope that this co-operation will continue…

Please don’t doubt the sincerity of our effort, the scale of the effort in terms of voluntary labour goner into this, and our desire to convert this investment of effort to build a positive solution that provides increased leisure opportunities to Leith but as importantly to all of Edinburgh and its visitors – a win-win for all involved.

In terms of the briefing today – we don’t want to rake over the past, but we believe that the decision taken in 2005 is redundant – those were the good times – everyone was high – Edinburgh was in the middle of a property boom. Trams were going to come to Leith as part of a network across the city; a million homes were to be built as part of the stock transfer; Western Harbour was to be a flowering of a Riviera, a new European style Leith – buoyed by foreign investment, and employment was at a record high. At that time, the decision was part of a wider review into the city’s national and regional sporting infrastructure. The name of the game was to be competitive – to compete with other cities. The decision needs to be seen in that context.

And then the crash happened.

The plan that this formed part of is now in bits – no community stadium in Sighthill (despite £1.2m spent on design); no refurb of Meadowbank due to a fall in property prices; no football academy at Hunters Hall; the bailout of Ratho had cost the public purse some £11m since 2005; the RCP project has been completed but at the cost of £7m over the agreed 2009 figure. City Park? Even the officials are not sure if it has been sold.

The sole part of the plan going through unchanged is to deal to sell Leith Waterworld for a hopeful figure of £1.5m, although again there is uncertainly about the funding gap at the RCP. And yet since the decision was taken in 2005, LWW gets an average £100,000 more income per annum.

We think we need to now consider the future of this site within the context of a recession and the impact that this has had on people’s lives…

Now, whenever I go to buy a choc ice, I don’t just take into account the price tag alone. Yes, I look at what it costs but I also look at what’s inside; how much chocolate there is, how cool it will make me feel and how luxurious the taste is – and I weight up whether I think its worth the price tag – it’s value.

We believe you’re being presented with the price tag, without an understanding of the value – we believe that best value is not the cost alone – its what’s valuable. I’ll come to the costs, but first I want to look at this value…

On Monday Alan Wells was quoted in the papers saying Scottish Kids need “a kick up the backside’. They don’t, they need local local facilities – we prefer the carrot to the stick.

More revealing in the article was the statistics that:

27% of Scottish children aged 2 – 5 yrs are overweight
17% of them obese.

(This is 2 – 5 yrs olds olds…) Exactly who LWW provides for.

1 in 3 kids leave primary school not being able to swim
1 in 3 children in Leith live in poverty.
Free primary swimming was scrapped by Edinburgh Leisure in Jan 2010, resulting ( from our reading of the stats and contested by EL) in an almost halving of numbers of primary aged children swimming (25,000 instead of 40,000 per annum).

Leith Waterworld had in the last year 126,000 visits.

It provided a space for families, living in cramped conditions, to get out from under each other’s feet and enjoy each other, building healthy relationships
It provided a pool where disabled users could enter and exit with dignity, rather than being hoisted in and out
It brought 48,000 people from throughout Edinburgh to Leith – think of the impact to the local economy.
And 12,000 from outwith Edinburgh – it was a tourist attraction
And all this achieved without any active marketing since 2005.

Splashback is not coming to Council pleading that it is reopened – we have put the begging bowl away. We are coming to you with the facts about the impact of the closure. We would love to see what studies the Council or Edinburgh Leisure have done on this?

Our survey (we currently have some 600 responses) shows that of our respondents:

89% attended LWW regularly
30% monthly
and 26% weekly

We asked ‘Are you and your family swimming less since the closure of LWW?", and 67% said yes – I know this from my own family’s experience.

89% said they would prefer to use LWW to other pools were it to reopen

The top three groups that respondents thought LWW was particularly important to were:

Families with young children
Disabled Users
Single parent families

The top three improved amenities were:

A Café
Enlarged and improved soft play facilities
Parent and Baby classes

84% of respondents would pay £12 or higher for a family swim (which was £8.60)

Nearly half would pay £6 for an adult swim

69% of people would consider an annual swim membership

We believe that a reopened facility would be a fantastic opportunity for this council to make its mark. To state its intention to listen and co-operate with communities. To put community desires ahead of party politics. Splashback has done what it can, within the time allocated to make this a reality, but we don’t doubt the amount of work still to be done, but we would really value the Council’s support and help. We think that this could be a co-operative community flagship.

Splashback at the Senscot national conference on Sports and Social Enterprise in Glasgow, June 2012

Finally the figures:

There are only three figures you need to know.

The ongoing subsidy. We believe and that we can get this down to under the Scottish average annual subsidy for swimming pools (which would equate to £260,000, reducing as we expand and add to income streams). This has been investigated with Council officials and requires further input on our business model.

The costs of capital refurbishment. Edinburgh Leisure have given us estimates which we would like to have independent verification of. It's entirely understandable that EL haven't spent too long on the assessment, as after all there’s no benefit to EL as it was a Council decision. To date, they are all we're got. Their estimates say:

£155,000 to recommission/reopen the facility
£800,000 over the next five years
£2.2m over the next 10 years

All capital costs we believe would sourced, not from Council coffers, but from national regeneration schemes, sourced in partnership with the Council

· People and Communities Fund

· Jessica Fund

· BIG Lottery fund

· Social Enterprise funding streams

· Social Investment Funds

· Inspiring Scotland

Resulting in zero impact to council budgets.

Finally the cost of the capital sale of the ground lease, to plug the RCP funding gap. Originally this was to be £1m, with any additional monies pledged to Leith based swimming facilities. Although there is a lack of clarity on this position now, even amongst council officials. Currently it is mooted that £1.5m is needed from LWW sale, with £1.5m from City Park sale – however Council officials cannot even tell us if City Park has been sold yet. Irregardless of whether it £1m or £1.5m, this is the sum that we are talking about, not the £5.089m alluded to in the briefing provided to Councillors. That £4.089 has been dealt with and allocated as part of the RCP prudential borrowing scheme…

Councilors, the most important thing about today it that we have the chance to represent ourselves, rather than be represented. And apologies from other campaigners, who couldn’t make it today due to the very short notice given.

For us, this marks a more listening and respectful approach. We take heart from this – we are pleased that we are starting to see signs of co-operation. We are heartened by the administrations talk of a co-operative council, heartened by plans for setting up a Co-operative Development Unit within the Council to assist communities in exactly this sort of project, and heartened and by the national SNP’s recently announced Community Empowerment Bill.

All this starts to signal to us, a Council that wants to work in tandem with communities and not against them.

We would, ideally, like to put Splashback to bed – to launch Springboard – a new partnership that considers the future of LWW with all the seriousness and respect that this issue deserves. But we are not blind - ultimately we want to see if reopening LWW is feasible. If it’s not, lets not do it. If it is, then lets work together towards that end.

Wave Generator

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:39:00 +0000

Picture by Doug

It's election day on Thursday, and we urge all supporters of the campaign to re-open Leith Waterworld to use their votes. Splashback are in the process of developing a community bid for the facility, however we need political support in order for the re-opening to be feasible. We have undertaken a short survey of candidates in the Leith and Leith Walk wards, asking them to respond to the following questions:

1. As a candidate standing for local election, do you support the re-opening of Leith Waterworld?

2. Do you support, in principle, The City of Edinburgh Council providing an annual revenue subsidy for the running of Leith Waterworld if a community bid can succeed in getting subsidy required below the national average for pools? (£2.18 per visitor)
(see page 11 of West Lothian Leisure's Annual Report 2010-2011for national figures

3. Do you agree, in principle, that Leith Waterworld should receive an equivalent subsidy per user to that of the Royal Commonwealth Pool? (£2.54 in most recent accounts)

4. Can we have a statement on Leith Waterworld please, and any other comments for potential voters?

Click here for the Leith ward candidates responses.
Click here for the Leith Walk ward candidates' responses

We are aware that the closure of Leith Waterworld affected voters throughout the city - indeed our research found that whilst some 50% of visitors were from the Leith area, 40% came from throughout the city, with the remaining 10% coming from outwith Edinburgh. We would therefore urge voters throughout the city to review the responses from candidates as they weigh up who to vote for on Thursday.

In summary:

The Greens are committed to the re-opening of Leith Waterworld as either a community owned and run facility, or as a publically run facility.
Labour, in principle, have agreed that a community owned pool would require a ongoing public subsidy, will work co-operatively with us on that basis and indeed have been doing so.
The independents (who responded) are, as expected, more than willing to represent public opinion and stand up for the re-opening Leith Waterworld within any new chamber
The SNP won't commit their support, even in principle, until a business case is prepared (by us) showing how LWW might run. One response outline a belief that a community owned pool should ultimately be self-funding - a tall order not expected of any other pool in Edinburgh.
The Lib Dems believe that 'the first step' in any serious bid is to meet with council officials - blithly ignoring the numerous weekends of street campaigning, meetings and time and energy spent by the campaign team to date
The Tories are, on the whole, not supportive- special mention to Leith candidate Nicola Ross's responses for brevity. However they are willing to relook at the business case if the subsidy required can be considerably lowered.

Slippery when wet

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 09:10:00 +0000

Image by Doug

Next week is of course election week here in the Capital, when local councillors are elected to represent their constituents views. Supporters of the Splashback campaign to reopen Leith Waterworld will have the opportunity to cast their vote(s) for candidates who they feel represent their best interests.

Splashback has attended hustings in both Leith and Leith Walk wards and asked exactly who supports the reopening of Leith Waterworld. Entertaining reports are available of both the Leith event via STV local, and the Leith Walk event via The Spurtle are available.

We are aware that certain assertions become fact - such as The Tories belief expressed by Cameron Rose that LWW was in receipt of the biggest subsidy in Edinburgh for a pool (wrong! - that'll be the RCP, subsidized by approx £900,000 per annum)... That LWW wasn't viable and therefore had to be shut (wrong! all pools require subsidy and in fact national average is £2.18 per visitor - which would equate to circa £261,000 for Leith Waterworld, not far from £340,000 it required in its last year)... that LWW wasn't used enough (wrong! LWW had over £100,000 additional income per year from entries from when the decision to close was made in 2005) Many councillors have expressed the desire to move on...

We too want to move on, and next week represents an opportunity to do so. It's worth remembering some of the facts - for all those fact hungry punters, here's our original briefing published just prior to us going to full Council in December to ask them to review all the options available (they declined)

Image by Doug

Splashback is continuing to make the case for reopening Leith Waterworld and is currently working on how a reopened facility could run successfully. However, it is our belief that the pool will require a subsidy, and should in fairness (given the subsidies available to other pools) expect this from Council...

We have asked all candidates in Leith/Leith Walk ward for their positions in a short online survey, and we will publish the responses in full for all our supporters to see next Monday, in time for making their mind up as they go to the polls.

And for the less cerebral. Here's Wounded Knee's really rather catchy folk summation, 'Splashback Blues', to be hummed as you head to the polling stations:

Splashback Blues by theknee

Final score

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Olympic Games legacy - The Watercube in Bejing

For the last three months, Splashback has been touring Edinburgh's pools, checking out the alternatives for those families left homeless by the closure of Leith Waterworld. Whilst we expected that what was on offer would not match our experience in Leith Waterworld, what struck us was that in many pools families were notable by their absense.

Put simply, where are the 2500 people who visited Leith Waterworld each weekend swimming now? From our research, worryingly, they're not...

Here's the end of year report for the pools we visited... in summary:

Telling statistics about the innate capacities of the pools rather than effort…

We marked according to our and our children’s needs, and whilst the swimming facilities are excellent, provision for the young and disabled is not – our search has reinforced the uniqueness of Leith Waterworld’s offer. As we say – “LWW shouldn’t be compared to other swimming pools - It’s not a swimming pool, it’s a play park with water.”

I’m afraid there is a now an unfortunate gap in leisure pool provision in both Edinburgh Leisure’s portfolio, and in the North of Edinburgh.

Until we reopen it, we will remain homeless and itinerant…

Final Report Card

Splashback is now moving into our next phase as we aim to pull together a community bid to reopen Leith Waterworld. Instead of visiting other swimming pools on Sunday mornings, we will now be concentrating on reopening the local amenity. Each Sunday, we will be running a planning workshop for all those interested in reopening Leith Waterworld, from 10am until 12noon, at Out of the Blue. Creche will be available - please do join us... we need both expertise and energy!

Email us at splashbackedinburgh[at]gmail.com or follow us on Facebook or Twitter @splashback

Still Haven't found What We're Looking For

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:05:00 +0000

Homeless Itinerant Bathing Society (Dublin/Memphis Branch)

We've searched high, we searched low... Since Leith Waterworld closed on January 8th this year, Splashback has taken up the City of Edinburgh Council's offer of alternative swimming options, visiting sites across the city in the guise of The Homeless Itinerant Bathing Society (Edinburgh Branch). From north (Ainslie Park) to south (the RCP), from East (Porty) to west (Dalry) no stone has been left unturned as we searched for a suitable family venue to take our kids to... Having struggled to find something with equivalent fun factor to Leith Waterworld, we went further afield - beyond the city, and beyond Edinburgh Leisure's portfolio of pools.

Here's three more report cards, including

star pupil - Dunbar Leisure pool
Overseas pupil - Burnisland
and the eagerly awaited and costly refurbed (£36m!) RCP, which we visited on April Fool's Day... the verdict?

"The wee wee pool - Kinda like swimming in an airport, lots of glakit passengers who seem as though they're waiting for something else... The big pool - Good for 'grown-up' "proper" swimming - a jewel in someone else's crown."

RCP Report Card
Burnstisland Dunbar Report Card

On the record

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Photo by Doug Briglmen

At the hustings on Thursday night Splashback asked all the candidates standing for Council in Leith Ward, whether they supported the reopening of Leith Waterworld. Here's what they said:

listen to ‘Leith Ward Hustings - Q3 - Leith Waterworld’ on Audioboo

Audio courtesy of Greener Leith

Losing it in Leith?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 30 Mar 2012 15:08:00 +0000

Last night was the Leith Ward hustings. All six candidates standing for Council were in attendence, with most managing to not to lose the plot as they were asked questions from Leith voters, including Splashback.

Candidates for the three seats are as follows:
Chas Booth (Green)
Adam McVey (SNP)
Rob Munn (SNP)
Gordon Munro (Labour)
Nicola Ross (Con)
Marjorie Thomas (Lib-Dem)

Below is a collation of the tweets which we have compiled for all the Splashback supporters who couldn't make it - to let them know what happened.

A fuller response will be made next week... Enjoy the sunshine: a good weekend to go swimming!