SWIMMING POOL LATEST!!

LOCAL RESIDENTS POOL MEETING

Organised by the Biggin Hill Society

Date: Wednesday 26th March

Time: 8pm

Venue: WI Hall

SWIMMING POOL

Objections/views need to be lodged with the council by next

Thursday 27th March

There is no doubt that the siting of the pool at the library will be a blow for all those 11-19 year olds who could have swimming as part of their secondary curriculum but will be unable to do so if the pool is not hosted on the school site.

Families will have their own views of course.

I urge all families to look at the plans and then write to the council with their views (this is public consultation after all). Apathy will be taken as acceptance.

If you feel you support the case I am making (see below) on behalf of the school then please write to:

Address your letters to:

Town Planning
Civic centre
Stockwell Close
Bromley
BR1 3UH
 

…and quote the reference number 08/00771 on the envelope

…and ensure the following goes on the letter:

Proposed Biggin Hill Leisure Complex
At Biggin Hill Library Site
Church Road
 

Ref: 08/00771

Below is my letter to the Council when the plans were being discussed. This details my initial concerns.

I have subsequently received further information which I will be publishing on this website within the next 24 hours or so.

LETTER TO COUNCIL sent on 1/10/2007

On the agenda of the Environment and Leisure Portfolio Holder Meeting (Tuesday 2 October) is the proposed siting of a swimming pool in Biggin Hill. I would like the Portfolio Holder to be made aware of this letter and ask that he take the following factors into consideration at the meeting.

I believe that the proposal for siting the pool at the library rather than attached to the Darwin Leisure Centre is ill advised for the following reasons:

Finance Capital
Economics of scale would point to the fact that a redevelopment of all Leisure Centre facilities could be achieved for the same capital investment as the library siting. Demolishing and then rebuilding a new and perfectly suitable library is unnecessary expenditure and by offering better facilities, meeting a wider range of public interest, the Leisure Centre site would offer best value for money. Even at worst case scenario it offers a minimum of £1million saving over the library site and this figure could be far higher.

Finance Revenue
As for the pool itself, an examination of the findings from the survey and the members’ consultation document shows that additional revenue costs for the Library site amount to £110,000. The school site offers a better economy of scale enabling it to run at a lower subsidy and at the same time provides a significant boost to the existing community use facilities, to enhance the quality of life in Biggin Hill.

The Survey
There are a number of problems with the survey results as reported:

Regular (once a week) swimmers amount to approximately 800 respondents. Of these 46%, roughly 370, prefer the library site on the mistaken assumption that there would be no day-time usage at the school. The respondents (mistakenly) believed that they could not swim between 9am and 3pm for the 39 weeks when the school is in session.

The majority of the people who, according to the survey, favour the library site are in the age bracket when they no longer have children of school age. Yet these youngsters are the very people who represent the future of the community as well as the future of the pool.

As there was no direct consultation with pre-school, primary or secondary school groups, there is a danger that undue weight is given to the views of a minority group of predominantly older residents. The issue of day-time access has I feel been over-played and I would therefore suggest that a way forward would be to draw up a clear agreement with the school, guaranteeing daytime access at agreed fixed times for local recreational swimming and organised activities.

Long term community use/benefits
Whilst the community would get daytime access to the school site, it most emphatically is the case that with the library site local secondary students will not be able to use their local pool as part of their PE lessons. With the restrictions of the National Curriculum for secondary schools, PE lessons are only one hour and that would be insufficient time to gather the students, walk them to the pool, get changed, swim, get dry, get changed and walk back. Thus over 1,300 students would effectively be disenfranchised from this marvellous new sports and health opportunity in their local community. All parties agree that sport is an important part of a healthy lifestyle (and swimming is recognised as one of the best activities in this respect) so this would seem to be unfortunate to say the least.

At a time when local swimming organisers are decrying the lack of facilities for schools (see Daily Telegraph letter August 2007 from a Bromley swimming club official), let alone Olympic aspirations, surely we should be targeting our young people. We should be doing everything in our power to encourage active participation in sport from a young age, certainly throughout school years, as that is where healthy habits can form a lifetime of sporting participation.

As for community use of the facility on the school site, it would be built into any daytime programme (and the same would be true for our local primary schools).This has been the case with current dual use facilities and I would therefore wish to clarify at this point that the use of dry-side facilities by the public has been a long-standing feature of this provision and is not “a significant departure from existing practice”. Whilst it is true that the sports hall and gym (which are minimum requirements for a secondary school of our size) are not able to be available to the public during school time, the fitness gym is and it has a history of public day-time access for such things as GP referrals.

Security/Social issues
Understandably older residents are wary of large groups of children. The issues of segregated access to school provision and public provision have therefore been an integral part of any discussion about hosting the pool on the (well supervised) school site. The alternative provision at the library is I maintain more of a concern in this regard.

The area by the current library is currently a venue for teenage groups in the evening. Whilst the police and the PCSOs do a wonderful job, the attraction to youngsters of a welcoming public building will increase potential problems. Youngsters “hanging around” would not do the image of the pool any good and would also appear potentially threatening to less confident members of the public.

The history of the Leisure Centre is one of a safe and secure environment.

Parking/Traffic flow
The “factor of greatest importance” according to all those surveyed is parking and presumably traffic flow. There is surely a reason why West Wickham Pool, the Walnuts and Beckenham Spa are sighted off the main high streets. Biggin Hill Library sits on top of the major junction in the town centre. Visitors from all surrounding areas would meet at this point and the slow (for some right hand) turn into the facility would present problems. Restructuring the junctions may well be at the back of councillors minds but it is not, as far as I can see, taken into the financial considerations.

Furthermore car parking at the library is limited and would only be accommodated by cutting into the recreational grounds. Green space/green belt would be sacrificed to tarmac.

The school site on the other hand would deflect cars from the centre and its potential traffic jams. Some development of the parking facilities would be required but this can be accommodated within the current footprint of the school site.

I am aware that the public consultation exercise produced a preference for the library site. The views of the people should of course be listened to and then carefully evaluated.

I am mindful of the work and support of local councillors to bring this long awaited project to Biggin Hill. Everyone, I am sure, wants it to succeed and be a legacy for the town. It would be a pity to see it turn into a millstone around councillors’ necks and the undoubted gratitude of the local community evaporate for the above reasons.

Yours sincerely,



Robert C. Higgins
Headteacher