COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL
MEETING OF LUCAN AREA COMMITTEE
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
MOTION NO. 11
MOTION: Councillor E. Tuffy
That this Committee re-affirms and will not give up on its commitment to the provision of a public Swimming Pool in Lucan, condemns unequivocally the decision, supported by all the Coalition parties and members including FF, Green and Independent Dáil Deputies representing Lucan, to abandon, after the relevant Government Department had led this Committee and the Council "up the garden path" for years, including the years of the dear departed Celtic Tiger, by giving repeated written replies referring to the re-opening of the Swimming Pool Programme, the scheme of financial support for Local Authority Swimming Pools, recognises that this betrayal of the Lucan Swimming Pool Project, combined with the collapse in Development Levy income to the Council makes it very difficult for the Manager to raise the necessary finance for a Swimming Pool Project, nevertheless requests the Manager to meet with Lucan EA Councillors to discuss and explore any options that might be open to the Council, and the community of Lucan, to bring a Lucan Swimming Pool project to fruition.
REPORT:
The Lucan Sports and Leisure Centre is included in the Council’s 3 year Rolling Capital Programme under the category “projects planned”.
The Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport has not yet formally indicated to the Council when it expects to re-open its swimming pool programme which has been closed since July 2000.
The Department of the Environment by circular letter LG /03/ 08 dated 2/4/08 required each Local Authority to carry out a comprehensive audit of all arts, community and sports facilities within its area, this audit has been completed and returned to the Department.
The Community Department has embarked on this route to assist in the wider exercise of putting in place a more strategic approach to provision of facilities generally and ensure the development of necessary sports facilities throughout the country.
In the meantime, the Community Department has forwarded to the Department its Water Leisure Strategy Review to support the Council’s strategic view in this County.
The Council is committed to providing this facility for the people of Lucan and surrounding areas and will do so in conjunction with receiving the necessary support from the Department of Tourism, Culture and Sport and subject also to the necessary capital funding being sourced.
Following any announcement of the re-opening of the Swimming Pool Programme the Community Department will review likely costs and sources of funding with regard to the project. In this regard the Department has stated that "No decision has been taken on the timing of a new round of the programme".
In addition there may be further financial challenges with regard to funding (Revenue and Capital) going forward which may negatively impact on the Council’s infrastructural programmes.
It will be necessary to await developments and clarifications regarding these challenges before fully assessing this project further.
Community Department is committed to the provision of a swimming pool in Lucan but can only do so within the resources available. So far, we have not been able to identify any alternative sources of finance to fund this project.
The proposals submitted by the developers for the provision of a Sports and Aquatic Centre at Adamstown are still under active active consideration and discussion with the relevant Council officials. A meeting between the developers and the relevant Council officials took place earlier in the Summer. Following that meeting, the developers undertook to do some further research on the matter.
In the present circumstances, the options open to the Council are as outlined above, and consequently, it would not be appropriate to meet with the Lucan Electoral Area Councillors as suggested in the motion.