More Money for Camberwell Baths!

A further £ 0.5m has been allocated by Southwark Council towards to refurbishment of the Baths. This means that the refurbishment of the gym can now take place.

This is part of the Phase 3 development which includes all of the facilities on the 'dry side' of Camberwell Baths.

It's fantastic news and means that work on this can begin swiftly, and may even be completed by Autumn 2010.

Open Day Saturday 12 September 10am to 2pm

There will be a Camberwell Baths Open Day at Camberwell Library on Saturday 12 September from 10am to 2pm.

As you know, the Baths have now closed for renovation and the 'At Risk' work has now begun. The plan is that they should reopen, fully renovated, in 2010.

The detailed plans will be on display in the Library, and the Project Team and Cllr Lewis Robinson will be there to answer any questions you have, and to give clarification on the plans. It is a great opportunity to see how the Baths will be renovated, and what the new layout and facilities will be.

The public consultation period ended on 12 August, and I understand that there were no objections forthcoming from within the community or from English Heritage. So it's full steam ahead for the Project Team, as they need to get the grant spent within the financial year!

Planning Application

The planning application has now been submitted and is currently out to public consultation until Thursday 12^th August 2009. Full details of the proposals are available on the Council’s website, using Application Number: 09/AP/1207 at: http://planningonline.southwarksites.com/planningonline2/.

The application will then be considered for approval by the Planning Committee on Tuesday 8^th September 2009.

As you know, the Government funding has to be spent in this financial year and achieving planning approval in September is crucial to meet this deadline. If the money is not used within the time frame, then it will be lost to the project.

Our recommendation is that you have a look at the plans and if there is anything on which you seek clarification (for example the exact layout of the changing rooms) then please contact Lewis Robinson lewis.robinson@southwark.gov.uk.

Please do not wait until 8 September to have a look at the plans!

The Camberwell Baths Campaign will be making more detailed observations on the plans, as will the Camberwell Society.

Achieving planning approval is the final hurdle before work can actually start on refurbishment of the Baths. It has taken a long time to reach this point so I hope you can take the time to review the proposals so that restoration of Camberwell Baths will start this autumn.

It would also be helpful if you could email your support for this application to planning.applications@southwark.gov.uk or directly to Lewis Robinson lewis.robinson@southwark.gov.uk.

Finally, there will be an open day on Saturday 12^th September 2009 where residents and users can view the final plans and programme of works. Once we have the details of this day we will circulate them.

Update on the Refurbishment of Camberwell Baths

Some topline information for those of you who couldn't make the Public Meeting on 30 April.

The secured finance package is as follows:

• Southwark Council £1.5 million
•  Free Swimming £1.45 million
•  Youth Capital Fund £ 0.5 million
• Heritage Lottery Fund £ 0.5 million
• S106 and Other Grants £ 0.5 million

We have been assured that this money has definitely been allocated to Camberwell Baths, and will not be redirected. The Free Swimming Capital money has to be spent this financial year, and so work on the wet side (that's the swimming pool and changing rooms) will begin in October (see below for programme timings). We also understand that our application for £25K Cleaner, Greener money to improve the street scene in front of the Baths has also just been approved.

The development is a phased programme, which is as follows:

Phase 1

• Free Swimming Capital Fund

• Supporting Facilities

Phase 2

• Youth Capital Fund

Phase 3

• Heritage Restoration

Phase 4

• Further Developments

The timetable of work is below, and the pool will be shut between October 2009 and June 2010.

April 09 – May 09 Detailed Design Work

May 09 – Aug 09 Planning Applications RIBA Stages E-H

Aug 09 – Sept 09 Mobilise Contractors

Oct 09 Works begin

Oct 09 – Jun 10 Wet-side Development

Jan 10 – Sept 10 Supporting & Youth Facilities

Sept 10 – Nov 10 Heritage and Further Options

I understand that Southwark will be posting updates on the link below, so it's worth noting the address if you want to follow progress, or contact the officers directly.

www.southwark.gov.uk/YourServices/SportsandLeisure

Public meeting - 30 April 7pm United Reformed Church - Grove Lane

PUBLIC MEETING 30 APRIL 7PM
UNITED REFORMED CHURCH
64 GROVE LANE SE5

The future of Camberwell Baths is now secure, so come and hear about what the plans are for the building!


We will hear the latest news direct from
Councillor Lewis Robinson
(Executive Member, Culture, Leisure and Sport)

And
Harriet Harman MP

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=SE5+8SN&sll=51.475396,-0.089264&sspn=0.280983,0.433273&ie=UTF8&ll=51.471533,-0.088384&spn=0.008781,0.01354&z=16&layer=c&cbll=51.471614,-0.088454&panoid=WxByC96fwxvLevuz7-lUlw&cbp=12,271.55174835266484,,0,5

Camberwell Baths to get £1.45m from free swimming fund

Dear Supporter,
I have just been given the exciting news that Camberwell Baths has been successful in the recent funding bid from the Free Swimming fund! We were given the largest award in England, at £1.45m.

Enormous thanks to all of you who have marched, written letters, turned up and swum on a freezing cold January morning and generally refused to take no for an answer! It's been a long hard slog, but I hope you agree that it was worth persisting.

There are too many people to thank individually, but special notes of thanks to Cllr Robinson for taking on the challenge of prioritising Camberwell, and reviving what had seemed to many to be a hopeless case; to Tim Clee, the officer who put together the winning bid; to Dora Dixon- Fyles who fixed the crucial meeting with Harriet Harman in December; and to Harriet Harman for making sure that the Dept of Culture Media and Sport knew about Camberwell' s needs.

So well done to everyone. We will keep you in touch with next actions, and will fix up a public meeting where you can see the plans and hear about the funding.
On behalf of Helen Owen, Secretary, Camberwell Baths Campaign.

Lots of updates

Sorry for the radio silence on this one - a lot has been happening. This morning we had a visit from Gerry Sutcliffe, the Minister for Sport, to Camberwell baths wheer he was greeted by supporters young and old. Pupils from Lyndhurst School presented the Minister with a CD recoding what the swimming in Camberwell means to them.

The next step is the application for capital modernization funding grant of £1.5m from the national swimming pool fund (see below for the full update on action).

DCMS Free Swimming Programme Background
* Southwark has signed up to deliver free swimming for over 60’s and under 16’s. This will be grant funded by the DCMS in 2009/10 & 2010/11.
* An Incentive Capital Payment of £81k has granted which will be used for project development
* By signing up to deliver free swimming, the council is eligible to submit a further funding application for a capital upgrade and modernisation project to support the delivery of free swimming the DCMS Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Fund - £25m available nationally 2009/10
* Camberwell Baths has been identified as Priority Project for this funding
* A £4.5M proposal has been drawn up which will secure long term future of the facility.
* A Stage 1 application was submitted in October 2008 (£1.5m)
* December 2008 we were informed that our Stage 1 application had been successful
* We have now been encouraged to Stage 2 with a deadline for submission of 2nd March 2009