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Tuesday 16 September 2014
Karl Dallas is still waiting for you to join Twitter...
Friday 12 September 2014
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Sunday 17 April 2011
Manningham & Rhodesway Pools closures - a sneaked consultation
A sneaked consultation
Consultation on proposals to close Manningham and Rhodesway swimming pools, and to limit the hours of opening of the Bingley Pool and Manningham Sports Centre begin officially on Monday April 18 – but no announcement has been made of this.
The list of current consultations, viewable at http://www.bradford.gov.uk/bmdc/Consultations, includes the following:
· Older Peoples Joint Commissioning Strategy
· Flood Awareness Consultation
· Local Transport Plan 2011-2026, First Three Year Implementation Consultation
·
But BradLEAKS has obtained a so far confidential document that says that consultations on closures/restrictions of these facilities will run from April 18 to May 21, and that they will only consider “expressions of interest to take on responsibility for the running of one or both of these facilities”.
The document claims that “pools at Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Queensbury, Bingley and Shipley are all within nationally recognised guidelines for reasonable travel time to swimming pools and offer capacity to cover demand resulting from the two closures” – but this takes no account of the fact that females-only sessions required by Asian woman and girls will not be possible at those pools, since they are overlooked by windows and balconies.
The document admits that the “planned closures and service reductions have generated significant objections, protests and negative media coverage”.
But it makes no attempt to address the concerns of those who believe that these objections should be met by savings in, for instance, the salary of the Council’s top earner, chief executive Tony Reeves, who took home over £180,000 – £178,476 salary plus £4,095 other remuneration – in 2008/9. If he were paid no more than the £142,500 the Prime Minister receives, the saving would go a long way to covering Manningham Pool’s running costs.
Hundreds of people are signing the petition to keep Manningham Pool open, and this will be presented to the full Council in May. Meanwhile, the hyper-active “Save Manningham Pool” Action Committee has decided to question all local council election candidates in the pool’s catchment area on whether they support its closure.
They are also planning to link up with other groups opposing the sacrifice of faciulities like libraries and swimming pools.
Whoever controls the Council after the May 5 elections, they are going to have a hard job getting their closure plans through.
The leaked document
Here is the full, unedited text of the leaked document:
1. Background
In light of Central Governments public spending cuts Members were asked to make some tough decisions and agree a series reductions in Council Services as part of setting the Council's priorities and budget for 2011/12.
For Sport and Leisure Services implications of the budget included the decisions to close Manningham Swimming Pool and withdraw from running Rhodesway Swimming Pool, and also reduce opening hours at Manningham Sports Centre and Bingley Swimming Pool. These planned closures and service reductions have generated significant objections, protests and negative media coverage.
2. Key Issues
In implementing the decision to close Manningham and Rhodesway Pools a process of consultation will be undertaken seeking expressions of interest to take on responsibility for the running of one or both of these facilities.
It is proposed that the consultation will commence on Monday 18 April with the last date for submitting an expression of interest and business case being Saturday 21 May. The consultation process will be carried out electronically and by request for a paper version, with respondents being asked to provide their proposal via e-mail or via postal services to Ian Bairstow, Strategic Director Environment and Sport.
Completion of the consultation period will be followed by a review process to consider proposals that have been received, and subsequently if required a two week notice period before final closure of one, or both facilities.
3. Implications
The overall provision of swimming pool 'water space' will be reduced if Manningham and Rhodesway pools are closed.
However, pools at Richard Dunn Sports Centre, Queensbury, Bingley and Shipley are all within nationally recognised guidelines for reasonable travel time to swimming pools and offer capacity to cover demand resulting from the two closures, with a priority being to ensure continued provision of swimming as part of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 2 and 3.
Tuesday 29 March 2011
EXCLUSIVE: Manningham Sports Centre closure hits seniors - AGAIN!
Next door to the closure-threatened Manningham Pool, Manningham Sports Centre in Carlisle Road, Bradford, is to close during the day from April 18.
Though no official announcement has been made, staff at the centre have been told that the present 9am opening is to be changed to 4pm from that date. This will threaten the seniors' exercise sessions, currently attracting about a dozen over-50 keep fit enthusiasts every Thursday morning, as well as the large number of local residents of all ages who use the gym and other facilities during the day.
Schools access to the Centre will still be available during the day, so it is dubious that the closure will have anything but a marginal effect on the Council budget.
Since tickets for the adjoining pool have to be bought at the Centre, it is not known how swimmers will gain access. Perhaps the Pool will be closed on April 18, also.
A meeting with staff is planned for Wednesday at 1pm - coinciding with a large-scale demo by schools, churches and others opposed to the closure of the Pool, starting at 12.30pm.
Meanwhile, the action committee campaigning for the Pool to stay open has its inaugural meeting at St Paul's Church, Skinner Lane, at 12.30pm on Friday, April 8, attended by local churches, schools, and individuals . If in fact the Pool is slated to close just ten days later, the campaigners will have to get their act together very fast.
Monday 14 March 2011
Libraries closure deadline: June 30, 2011
There's also the issue of how long mobile services will survive, judging from what's happening to other places.
If you respond, please copy your response as a comment to this posting.
March 2011
You may have read in the press about proposals for reductions in Council spending in
order to address a funding shortfall of £56m in 2011/12. In 2012/13 the Council will have to address a further £24m, making a cumulative saving of £80million over the two years. This has arisen because the Government’s formula grant to Bradford has been reduced by £35m and specific grants by a further £19m. In addition, Council services have had to find savings to offset service pressures and price increases.
As part of this it has been necessary to review expenditure on the library service and proposals to reduce expenditure on this area of the Council’s service include closing the 5 smallest libraries in the District - Addingham, Denholme, Heaton, Wilsden and Wrose, all of which are open for less than ten hours per week.
The proposal is that these libraries will close from 30th June 2011 and will be replaced initially by the mobile library service. The mobile library will provide a similar level of service – book lending, ICT access and information. It is the intention that each community will receive a similar number of hours of service to their current allocation although the times/days of the service may vary - a timetable will be available shortly for those communities.
All the staff who currently work in these libraries will be redeployed to other libraries in the district.
In conjunction with this the Council will consult with local communities about how best to deliver their library service in the light of the reductions to the library service budget. The Council will also carry out a community needs assessment.
A Libraries Review carried out last year recommended a number of different models for the provision of services including community managed libraries using volunteers, a self-service library offer in another community facility, or in a retail outlet and better use of the mobile library service. The full Libraries Review report can be found on the library service webpages at www.bradford.gov.uk/libraries/ and then click on the Library Reports and Policies link.
We will be consulting widely in the coming weeks but we would welcome your comments at any time during this process. If you include your contact details we will make sure you are kept informed about any future consultation meetings etc.
Please hand in your comments at your local library or send your comments through to the Libraries Manager, Central Library, Prince’s Way, BRADFORD, BD1 1NN or you can email to public.libraries@bradford.gov.uk.
Thursday 24 February 2011
Tiny tremors at NMeM
Problems are brewing at the National Media Museum. So far, only a few tiny tremors are perceptible, but if Bradford is to retain the jewel in its cinematic crown, vigilance is called for.
Bradford's cuts budget goes through on the nod
As was only to be expected, the cuts to public services in Bradford went through on the nod. While there were pious declarations of the "this hurts me more than it hurts you" variety and much crocodile tears, as well as finger-pointing across the house on the question of who was to blame, Labour's last government or the Con-Dem elective dictatorship (answer: both), in the end the only speaker to consider (and reject) the alternative of refusing to set a budget was Dave Green, who said that this would allow the dreaded Pickles to take over and push through even more swingeing cuts.
Of course, they could have set a "no cuts" budget, which would have set them in direct confrontation the Tories and their Lib-Dem lapdogs.
The public gallery was packed, and very vocal they were too, chanting "No Ifs, No Buts, No Public Service Cuts". At one stage the Lord Mayor threatened to suspend the session, if they didn't shut up. So - apart from the occasional heckle - everyone behaved themselves after that.
But if they hadn't, and the session had been suspended, would Bradford have dared to reconvene with the public gallery closed to the hecklers? And if they did, wouldn't that have escalated the issue in the public eyes?
Footnote-1: The Tory amendment would have kept the five local libraries open, but said nothing about Manningham Pool, no doubt because the libraries are in the Tory rural hinterland, and the pool is in a working class area with a large Asian electorate.
Footnote-2: The T&A had a photographer there, but the Lord Mayor didn't notice him until he'd been snapping away for quite a while. Apparently no one from Newsquest had thought to ask for permission. Several councillors appealed to His Honour to let the snapper carry on, but he was adamant. No pictures, please, our proceedings are not for too many of the public eyes to see.
The public galleries hold a hundred seats, while the T&A has 28,839 readers. Wouldn't do to let so many to see what our leaders get up to, now, would it?
It'll be interesting to see if any of his pix get published.
Of course, they could have set a "no cuts" budget, which would have set them in direct confrontation the Tories and their Lib-Dem lapdogs.
The public gallery was packed, and very vocal they were too, chanting "No Ifs, No Buts, No Public Service Cuts". At one stage the Lord Mayor threatened to suspend the session, if they didn't shut up. So - apart from the occasional heckle - everyone behaved themselves after that.
But if they hadn't, and the session had been suspended, would Bradford have dared to reconvene with the public gallery closed to the hecklers? And if they did, wouldn't that have escalated the issue in the public eyes?
Footnote-1: The Tory amendment would have kept the five local libraries open, but said nothing about Manningham Pool, no doubt because the libraries are in the Tory rural hinterland, and the pool is in a working class area with a large Asian electorate.
Footnote-2: The T&A had a photographer there, but the Lord Mayor didn't notice him until he'd been snapping away for quite a while. Apparently no one from Newsquest had thought to ask for permission. Several councillors appealed to His Honour to let the snapper carry on, but he was adamant. No pictures, please, our proceedings are not for too many of the public eyes to see.
The public galleries hold a hundred seats, while the T&A has 28,839 readers. Wouldn't do to let so many to see what our leaders get up to, now, would it?
It'll be interesting to see if any of his pix get published.
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