Public Meeting -DFRC Swimming Pool -to demand funding

dublin | miscellaneous | event notice Tuesday April 05, 2005 20:06 by Terry - Campaign for Community Pool info at splash-dfrc dot org

Tues 19th April at 8pm, in School Hall, St Attracta's, Ballinteer -beside DFRC Pool

ALL LOCAL POLITICIANS HAVE BEEN ASKED TO ATTEND

Since the our last public meeting in Sept, nothing has been done by the politicans or councillors to help secure the funding for the new replacement pool. In the meantime, the opening of the new Dundrum Shopping Centre will generate 27 million euros every year in commercial rates for Dun Laoghaire - Rathdown.

All we need is 2 or 3 million out of just one year. Will the councils give us the money? Please put pressure on your local TDs and councillors to do just that and come along to the meeting.

Dundrum Family Recreation Centre (DFRC) public swimming pool shut last July. Almost nine months later, the money to rebuild has still not been secured. At a public meeting last September hundreds of people let all our local elected reps know that this was a priority. Since then, many of you have helped the SPLASH campaign to keep this issue very much alive.

* -almost ten thousand signatures have been collected calling for public funding to build a new pool
* -information days were held in local shopping centres where the design of the new pool was displayed
* -a delegation met Minister Seamus Brennan
* -100 people lobbied a council meeting in Dundrum before Christmas
* -members of the campaign were present outside the Town Centre on its opening day with a very eye-catching banner to highlight the issue. We cannot allow this issue to slip off the agenda until the next election.

Now is your chance to have your say in the way Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council should spend the extra funds accrued from the huge developments and apartments in your area. Commercial rates from the new Town Centre will generate €27 million per year while the council gets €12,000 for every unit of housing built of which hundreds are been built in the area.

You have a legitimate claim to share in the benefits of these extra funds as it is your community who has to suffer the inconvenience created by these developments. Our new pool will cost just over €8 million to build. We have already been promised €3.8 million from the Department of Sport and €1.9 million from council development levies. A further small investment will show a real profit in terms of a happier and healthier lifestyle and will have long term benefits both socially and economically.

The extra funding is being refused by the keepers of our taxes who are supposedly concerned about the huge growth in obesity and anti social behaviour. Our first meeting in September has only resulted in empty promises. Nothing has been delivered by any one of our politicians. It seems it is not a priority as far as they are concerned.

This situation will continue unless our community shows it is serious about this campaign. A show of strength from locals - whom the elected reps seem to have forgotten are also voters - may be the only way to change their order of priorities.

Come and show solidarity. Come and show the only message they appear to listen to:

NO POOL NO VOTE
All local politicans have been asked to attend and present a record of what they have done to secure funding. We have also asked Councillors to table a motion at the April council meeting instructing the Manager to provide additional funding to enable building to begin immediately. Phone them in advance and let them know how strongly you feel about our pool.