Anger at Victoria Leisure Centre plans

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Saturday, April 04, 2009
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This is Nottingham

CITY council officers have recommended that the authority supports a plan to rebuild the Victoria Leisure Centre.

A report produced for the St Ann's and Dales Area Committee meeting next week has assessed three options for the site in Sneinton.

One, option A, would have seen much of the existing building retained and refurbished. Another, option C, was to demolish the existing building except for the clock tower and rebuild the facility. Option B was a mix of the two.

The council officers, in line with consultants employed by the council, are recommending the committee adopts option C.

This has angered members of the Save the Victoria Baths campaign group, which has called for the adoption of option A, preserving the leisure centre but improving it.

However, Steve Harrison, the council's neighbour manager in the area, said option C best suited the council's criteria for a "vibrant new leisure centre, sustainability, heritage and regeneration".

In his report to the committee Mr Harrison has said: "Any decision to pursue Option A would also have to consider how it would deal with the disappointment that this would generate among those excited by the prospect of a modern family-orientated facility being developed, possibly trailblazing the regeneration of Sneinton Market."

But Mat Anderson, of the Save the Victoria Baths campaign, is disappointed. His group has produced eight reasons why they do not think the proposed option will be a success.

Mr Anderson said: "The cost of it will exceed the amount set aside in the council's budget.

"It's already coming in at over £9m according to Levitate [the architects] and work hasn't even started."

He said demolition of the existing building could result in derelict land around the new centre and claimed the council had failed to demonstrate the proposal had public support.

A consultation on the three options resulted in 47 people backing option A and only 11 backing option C.

However, the council organised a second round of consultation, which included 'focus groups' at three local schools. Three-quarters of the children were in favour of option C.

In the last two weeks, the Save the Victoria Baths campaign has collected 600 signatures in favour of their preferred option A.

The meeting will take place at the Council House this Tuesday at 7pm.

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  • Profile image for This is Nottingham

    by Ewan Lamont, Mapperley

    Monday, April 06 2009, 11:43PM

    “I am overwhelmed by sadness and anger to hear that the council officers are recommending the demolition of the Victoria Leisure Centre. The current facility is in desperate need of renovation but to destroy it is beyond belief. The Centre is extremely popular; thousands use it not only for swimming but for gym and sports hall work too. I used it to rehabilitate myself after breaking my arm, my wife used it for antenatal classes and the facilities were good enough to train Rebecca Adlington to be a world-class athlete. As well as these basic facilities the building is truly unique, one of the few examples of attractive architecture left in the city and the only public owned facility in Britain providing Turkish baths, this is a facility we cannot afford to lose.
    It will truly be a bizarre decision if the Labour councilors decide to demolish it and replace it with a new swimming pool. Before Christmas they were adamant that the best decision was to destroy the whole building and replace it with nothing as the facility cost too much to renovate (circa £2 million). Now they are advocating a decision that will cost the taxpayer many millions more (circa £8-9 million) yet reduce the number of facilities. What kind of decision maker could support a massive expenditure that actually reduces the amount of facilities available? Over 80% of people surveyed by the council in Nottingham want to keep the original building, it will demonstrate breathtaking arrogance and contempt for the people of Nottingham if they decide to destroy part of our heritage.
    If we had been elected to the council I would not only be arguing for the renovation and remodeling of the existing facility but lobbying for the building of a full sized Olympic swimming pool and family focused facilities that would kick start the regeneration of the Sneinton Market area. I fully support the Save the Victoria Baths campaign, they played a vital role ensuring Labour kept some leisure facilities on the east side of the city and hopefully they will be victorious again in ensuring the Councilors select renovation over demolition.”

  • Profile image for This is Nottingham

    by Disillusioned, UK

    Monday, April 06 2009, 9:51PM

    “I quite agree Equaliser, Nottingham City Council destroyed Nottingham`s history in the 1960`s and 1970`s, to make way for "privately" built, hideous shopping centres. Whereas, the likes of York, for example, retained their natural history and provided a city of historical interest for generations to come.

    Why not spend the smaller ammount on refurbishing the original building and keeping it`s existing historical past, with modern day improvements?”

  • Profile image for This is Nottingham

    by The Equaliser, Nottingrad

    Sunday, April 05 2009, 7:54AM

    “With Nottingham's reputation for the wanton destruction of heritage buildings what do you expect?
    The building has gone past its sell by date if we take this reputation into account.
    I fear for any building over 50 years old in the City.
    All I can think is that there has always been a group of cozy developers/builders waiting in the wings at City Hall!”

  • Profile image for This is Nottingham

    by Sam, Notts

    Saturday, April 04 2009, 8:34PM

    “I'm all for regenerating where regeneration is due. But the council have obviously not bothered to listen to what the public want. A renovation of the current buildings would be cheaper and preferred to anything else. I also think there are more pressing issues in that area such as Sneinton Market which is supposed to be rebuilt, and the East Side which isn't happening yet. The council needs to address the regeneration of bits of this area that matter. Why don't they spend the money on getting stuff that's really important to the regeneration of that area happening. They are only pushing this through so the people who opposed them don't get their own way.”

  • Profile image for This is Nottingham

    by David, Notts

    Saturday, April 04 2009, 12:48PM

    “Another sham of a public consultation. Our glorious leaders made their minds up months ago.”

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