This update 27th April replaces previous updates 8th and 3rd April.
There was a lot of detail in the Feb/March update which is worth checking out here.
We have one more opportunity to raise the pool pricing issue before the local elections on June 7th. This will hopefully be at the last full Council meeting on Monday 13th May, where a brief query with the CEO will be permitted. Other than that, the May and June Area Committee meetings will not take place so the next ACM is September, when hopefully the pool will be open or close enough. Below is the most recent report.
Area Committee meeting report 23rd April
I tabled another motion on this matter as a follow up to the one at the March Area Committee. I won't post a video of the full discussions this time around as there was also a joint motion by Cllrs Casserly and Tuffy and both motions were taken together, but the wording reply to mine is attached below. As you can see I queried both the construction timeline and the pool pricing:
South Dublin County Council continues to suggest that Aura Leisure are responsible for the pricing. And while I supported calls by other Councillors to write to Aura Leisure in this regard, I think people are missing the point.
The tender that Aura was successful in did not include any subvention from the Council. Therefore, as a private company which needs to make a profit from the running of the pool, the onus should not be solely on Aura. SDCC is directly responsible for omitting a subvention to keep pool prices lower, something it can do in Clondalkin and Tallaght pools because it has an interest in the not-for-profit management company South Dublin Leisure Services. This company did not tender for the Lucan pool, so SDCC officials knew precisely what they were doing.
Once again SDCC reiterated that while it will not subsidise headline prices, it could look at providing grants towards making certain types of classes or sessions cheaper for certain categories of people, in conjunction with Aura, however we have no indication as to what this will entail, if anything. I will detail as and when more information becomes available.
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8th April
At the monthly Council meeting on Monday 8th April we got a further written report on current pool construction progress and I also got an opportunity to raise the proposed prices with the newly-appointed Chief Executive Colm Ward - and got a less than positive response. This was as a follow up to my detailed motion on the pricing which took place at Area Committee on 26th March. Click here to go direct to this section further down the page. I will be raising this yet again.
Aerial view of swimming pool and leisure centre complex April 2024
Latest pool construction timeline - statement from SDCC April 8th
"The projected completion date for Lucan Leisure Campus, comprising the new swimming pool and upgraded existing leisure centre, is in the second week of June, based on an updated contractor programme. This timeline depends on a number of key programme objectives being delivered in the interim including, most critically, external steelworks, pool deck screeding and tiling, pool filling/commissioning, and electrical sub-contractor works, which will all impact on other required finishing works and the contractor has been instructed to prioritise these critical dependencies and to ensure appropriate resources and productivity on site to achieve completion on schedule. Our Architects team will continue to intensively monitor and supervise the project to support getting this fantastic new amenity finished as soon as possible. In terms of project progress, the general quality of works on site remains high. Tiling to the pool area is almost complete, the moveable pool floor is installed, the changing village is fully tiled, timber flooring to all studio areas is nearing completion, as are screening and internal finishes to reception and studios. External works, including the car park and footpaths, are also well progressed while external painting of the existing leisure centre is complete, and the outstanding drainage connection issue is also in the process of being resolved with Uisce Éireann and will not impact on project completion".
Pricing issue raised with CEO
During the discussion on the CEO report and Capital Programme I took the opportunity to highlight the pricing with the newly appointed CEO directly. I urged him to intervene directly and pointed out that there is a lot of anger, disappointment and frustration in relation to the ongoing pool construction delay and now the pricing structure which does not reflect its status as a public pool.
In his reply CEO Colm Ward said that SDCC would "have to engage with Aura as they are contracted for a five year initial period". He also suggested that if the pricing isn't working "people will vote with their feet" which might encourage Aura to review their prices. While I welcome that there will be further engagement with Aura, I find this to be an unacceptable response as it still tries to distract from SDCC's responsibility in putting together a contract that did not include a subvention in the first place. I've no doubt many people will stump up at current prices, but so many others won't be able to afford to do so and it will be an inconvenience for them to travel to Clondalkin and other pools.
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Pool pricing motion 26th March - full debate below
With the pool construction progressing, attention has shifted to the surprisingly high prices being quoted by Aura Leisure for casual and membership use of the Lucan pool when compared with other public pools. Because of this, I tabled a motion for the Lucan, Palmerstown, North Clondalkin Area Committee meeting at the end of March. Contrary to impressions created elsewhere, this is the ONLY motion tabled on pool prices to date. In recognition that getting funding in the first place was a team effort, I've posted the full debate here which includes my opening statement, supporting contributions from other Councillors, the response by SDCC management and my concluding remarks. These are all taken from the publicly accessible SDCC webcast which myself and others fought over many years to get.
Paul Gogarty opening statement on his motion
Contributions from other Councillors
Response by Council management
Paul Gogarty concluding remarks
Written response to motion by SDCC
Reminder of prices listed by Aura
Summary of motion debate
SDCC does not appear to view pricing as its own issue and blames external factors like wage increases and energy costs - this is not credible
The tender issued did not include a subvention as part of contract - how are prices supposed to be reduced otherwise?
SDCC will speak with Aura but will give no guarantees
Councillors strongly argued that the pricing does not reflect a public pool built out of public funds - we have no powers to force SDCC hands but points were made strongly
SDCC to revert at a later date and this matter will be chased up again with Chief Executive