The Conservative MP for Brighton Kemptown Simon Kirby has urged Brighton and Hove City Council to provide financial assistance to help save the Saltdean Lido.
The Saltdean Lido CIC (Community Interest Company) needs £70,000 to meet the costs of a new electricity sub-station at the site as part of its £10 million renovation.
The council told the CIC that it could contribute about £10,000. It believes that the CIC could contribute about £50,000 from its reserves.
But the CIC’s chair, Rebecca Crook, said that this meant the entire project was on hold as the group did not have enough funds to cover the total cost.
Mr Kirby said: “Having worked closely with the CIC and local residents over the last five years and helped lobby government for substantial funds to make the Lido a reality, I urge the council to do all they can to assist at this crucial stage.”
Of course Simon. Happy to. All we need is for you to ask your Government to reduce the £25 million cuts they are imposing on us by 1%. Just 1%. After all, your Chancellor says the economy is now booming, so 1% off the austerity cuts isn’t too much to ask?
And, Councillor Morgan, about 2% of the amount reported as almost certainly being carelessly lost by the Council from the parking monies collected by CCI but not paid to the Council? Our Council appear to head the list of amounts reported as being owed by a very substantial degree.
Stuart that happened on The Green Party’s watch perhaps Penny Thompson would like to pay back some if not all of her payout ?
Loving the real life Punch & Judy politics. My little wooden headed cast pick up so many useful tips.
The Lido crowd have been foolish to run to the press over this matter when it is a small proportion of the
overall cost of the project. It has now brought all eyes on them. A casebook example of special damage.
It is a small amount. But it is an amount we don’t have, and given the nature of these projects in which one is seeking a cocktail of funds, the smallest amounts can become extremely significant (and damaging).
This work wasn’t something we were aware of, because the Council never told us they’d allowed power to be used for non-Lido uses. And, since we still don’t have a lease, we’ve not had the run of the place to do the surveys which might reveal stuff like this. So we’ve gone and made costed bids to funders, and nowhere did it include this work, so the money isn’t there.
And as a result, the work has ceased, because it can’t go forward. That means we’ll miss the Lido being open next summer, even if we got the money from the Council in December after the P&R committee. That also affects the big lottery bid for 4.6M for the building itself. That required a hod load of work to be done to be ready in time to submit in April, but fair to say the work which was supposed to take place in September and likely October on that score is being deployed here instead.
Though thanks for calling us the Lido Crowd Chris – there was always a feeling that because the group began life as campaigners to stop the Lido being lost, we were seen as an irritating mob. The somewhat pointed language of Chris Hawtree (and fellow ex councillor Bowden on twitter) certainly seems to betray an attitude that one felt was there all along.