“I no longer live in the Sneinton area, but having worked close to The VLC for over fifteen years, I have been following the current debate with interest.

By assuming the title of Mr Sensible, The Real World, your correspondent is asking us to take on trust this self -accreditation. Holding such an opinion is important only in the respect of how it affects the way he treats those who do not share his point of view.

What is more important is that Mr Sensible is asking us to take on trust the conduct of The City Council as well. This will not do.

The Council has been less than transparent in its dealings with the people of Sneinton. Admittedly this is my opinion but one commonly held; yet it is challengeable by a council prepared to lay out all the facts in public. For reasons best know to itself the Council refuses to do so. Perhaps matters have gone beyond this stage and there is need for a more legalistic approach, where interested parties including Councillor Trimble answer probing questions under oath rather than offering opinions from polemical news columns.”

“Scratties, blah blah blah, whatever. *Yawn*

Please.

Change the record. You're boring.”

“Does anybody know if you can catch AIDS from a toilet seat?”

“Billy, outside toilets are not a good idea.

I think you'll find that the chimney sweep will give you cholera.”

“I think most of sneinton do now have baths, which is a shame.

The purpose of building houses without washing facilities was a way for the superior classes to keep such sc um under our control, back in the days when we were able to beat them for not cleaning our chimley properly was a golden era, and I for one think it should be re-introduced.

We should start by building more back to back houses with outside cra ppers (shared by ten families) for the lower classes, that is why I am in favour of keeping sneniton baths in working order for when these days return, which I think will be when Cameron gets in. I know its harsh but scratties are like Iraqis they need controlling.”

“In response to Peter- it is easy to see why the Centre has not been as well attended as it could have been: the facility has suffered from being inadequately maintained and very poorly promoted, resulting in a shoddy appearance and little local knowledge about the facilities that are on offer.

Despite this neglect the centre remains enormously popular and well used, and the robust old buildings remain in good condition. The Council's own figures (from 2004) identified just £0.75m of repairs to bring the centre up to 'good' condition- this work was not carried out. Their 2008 figures show that complete refurbishment, including the 2004 work AND:
- replacing or overhauling the whole roof
- completely refurbishing the Turkish Baths
- complete replacement of all the changing rooms
- replacing the pool surrounds, linings and drainage
would cost around £2m.

If more money is available, all properly conducted consultations of local people have shown that they would strongly prefer this money to be spent on improving the existing buildings rather than knocking them down and building a new centre.

And the idea that properly maintained old buildings need repair more quickly than new buildings is simply untrue- a quick look at the refurbishment schedule for the recent pools around Nottingham will show just how quickly they have declined and needed major overhaul- I am sure that none of them could have survived the 20 years of neglect that the Victoria Baths have endured, or engendered the same sense of pride and ownership from the local community.

It's good that you trust the Council to carry out their promises and will judge them on their performance at the next election. The demand to keep the Baths open until planning permission has been obtained is, in any case, a very reasonable thing they can do to demonstrate their good intentions.”

“"consultation on the future of the building undertaken by NCC,produced a MAJORITY in favour of refurbishing existing building...NCC went in2 local schools & made presentaion 2 children...results REVERSED . Enough said.”

“"I see someone using multiple ID's to try and make his views look popular."

I think we've heard that one before.

I could just as easily say that about you.

Don't do it.”

“our councillors are obsessed with their legoland buildings. They are also obsessted with destroying architectural heritage whenever they have an opportunity. At any cost. They do like to spend your money.These self serving people will have their own way. Do not doubt that . However, the next time they ask for your vote, tell them to **** *** and make sure they understand the meaning of the words.”

“Perhaps those who think the existing leisure centre should be revamped can explain why useage of the pool has been declining for years.

And although a revamp may be cheaper in the first instance, I suspect that the centre would be more expensive to run and would require expensive refurbishment long before a completely re-built centre would. In the longer run, a rebuilt, modern centre will be used by more people as well as save money.

Also, anyone who knows anything about swimming will tell you that a modern 25m pool is much better to train in than the old style pool.

I trust that the council will do as they promise and start building the new centre asap and if they haven't started before the next City Council elections, local people will be able to punish them won't they.....”