THESE POOLISH THINGS

30-08-2007

Well, well, well...the story of Birmingham's Olympic Swimming Pool has surfaced once again, with the claim that Advantage West Midlands have purchased the old Aston Villa Leisure Centre as a possible venue. Let The Stirrer tell you...there's not a chance.

The story surfaced a couple of days ago in the Birmingham Post (link here ) and was slavishly followed up yesterday by BBC WM.

Take it from us - the land on which AVLC sits will not be the venue.

Yes, AWM are planning a major sports facility there, but its contents will be largely determined by the local community.

A 50 metre pool won't be on the agenda though - as one source diplomatically told us, it takes a "major leap of faith" to imagine that.

Nope, as The Stirrer has told you before there are only two realistic possibilities for this misbegotten White Elephant.

One involves a tie up with Aston University on or next to their main Gosta Green site.

The other possibility - and this is the one that's increasingly favoured by city officials - is that the pool will be built at Birmingham University as part of a sports village.

Linking with an academic institution and sharing costs is the only way the Council will be able to afford it.

As The Stirrer has previously warned, an Olympic Pool will almost certainly lead to the closure of one or two other municipal swimming baths.

We've already argued that the whole plan should be scrapped - and that if necessary (to attract US and Chinese athletes to train here ahead of the 2012 games) a temporary pool should be constructed.

Ordinary council taxpayers would rarely be able to use such a facility anyway, as it would be hogged by elite swimmers.

Wolverhampton recently rejected a 50 metre pool, and decided to have two new 25 metre pools instead (at Bilston and Wednesfield) because they want ordinary punters to get a look in.