At the age of 30, my attempts to learn how to swim have lead to many cringe-worthy moments. Two are most prominent in my mind. The first involved me in a children's swimming pool with women of an older generation wearing armbands, as fellow male peers on their treadmills, watched in amusement. The second attempt ended up like a farcical scene from Baywatch, where I’m running in my swimsuit across a crowed school hall, wrongly seeking the help of the janitor (long story). These deeply entrenched memories are the consequences of two factors. Firstly, over protective parents, who ironically feared I would drown. And secondly, the more pragmatic reason, lack of swimming facilities nearby.
This has caused my concern over the Council's decision to closed Waterworld on the 8 January 2012. Waterworld is a the capital's only leisure pool and aims to provide a service to children, families and those with carers. The facility is located beside Tesco, at the bottom of Leith Walk. The pool is being sold off to help fund the £37 million redevelopment of Royal Commonwealth Pool (RCP).
The vote at the Edinburgh City Chambers on the 22 December, saw 55 councillors vote for it's closure, compare to 3 to keep it open. Councillors from SNP, Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrats refused to back a Green Party motion to keep the pool open until the RCP's re-opening, a motion which was previously agreed in February 2007 by the administration.
The closure was opposed by Splashworld!, a residential campaign to prevent the pool's closure, at least until the RCP opens at the end of March, 2012. The group has the backing of Irvine Welsh, David Greig, The Proclaimers, John Loughton and has collected 5,000+ signatures. However, this support did not the desired impact on the council's decision.
The council has received 4 notes of interest, potentially from the site's neighbour, Tesco. However, neither Tesco or the council will confirm whether the former is an interested party.
And what about my future in water? Well in 2012, I will again attempt to conquer the skill of swimming, in an adult evening class in Leith Academy. While I don't dream of participating in the Rio de Janeiro's Olympics in 2016, I would like my children to have the dream. And as Alison Johnstone, Green councillor and Lothians MSP, says "We'll never have elite athletes if we don't have the grassroots facilities".
On January 17 2012, Splashback made a formal complaint against City Council's actions on the 22 December, stating the Council failed to uphold an "Act of Council", whereby they failed to meet a previous agreement, to wait for RCP's reopening before the closure of LWW. The administration believed as there was only a small time frame between the closure was acceptable.
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