Aberdeen City Council Special Report: Swimmer's campaign to save landmark city pool in vain

Published on Friday 29 August 2008 21:40

ONE of the faces of the fight against the swathe of cuts in Aberdeen was 79-year-old George Pettifer.

The pensioner had been turning up almost every morning for 15 years to swim at the city's oldest and biggest pool, the Bon Accord Baths.

But the pool, in a historic art deco building, was top of the list for city councillors to close because of its huge maintenance costs.

It had shut for months for major surgery on its crumbling infrastructure.

Added to that, the council wants to build a new 50-metre Olympic class pool and was told it could not get the 5 million it wanted from the Scottish Government because the city already had too many pools.

Mr Pettifer raised 13,000 signatures in support of his campaign and protested wearing a sandwich board.

"I was flabbergasted, not happy at all," he said when hearing of the plans.

"The health I have is down to the fact I swim and exercise. I am convinced if I did not I would not feel as good as I feel."

However, his efforts came to nought and the Bon Accord Baths are now shut for good. The one silver lining is that the Scottish Government has now agreed to give Aberdeen 5 million to build a 20 million 50m pool in the city.

There was also bad news for the campaigners trying to save the city's ice rink.

It will be shut down for 18 months for "refurbishment" which will save 900,000 in running costs.

Ice-skating club and hockey organisers warned that it would ruin the chances of children and teenagers to enjoy ice sports.

Liz Cameron, from the Links Skating Club, said the facility could be up and running in just four months.

Meanwhile Neil Duncan, who runs the Aberdeen Ice Hockey club, described the closure as "devastating".

He added: "We may be able to come through this at the end, but individuals concerned now will lose three years of training."

There is worse news for them. If a trust cannot be formed to run the ice rink and take it off the council's books, then the closure will be made permanent.