Now that Nottingham City Council is to receive an extra £1m towards the cost of the new swimming pool in Forest Fields to replace the Noel Street baths which are due to close, will they be giving some money back to the Neighbourhood Development Company so that they can at last make some real difference to Hyson Green and Radford.


The money that the city is set to get is from the Sport England Free Swimming Capital Modernisation Programme. The Sport England web site says that this funding is to: "encourage creative approaches to enhancing swimming facilities and increasing participation in physical activity and sport by members of the local community, especially those aged 60 or over and those aged 16 or under". A commendable aim which I'm sure most people would support.

Except that the money for the new pool on the Djanogly School site on Gregory Boulevard was already assured before this announcement, with a contribution of £2m coming from NDC. I tried to get confirmation of this figure from the NDC website but there is no mention of the Djanogly Pool investment and the site doesn't appear to have been updated for months. But look at the picture at the top of the 'Managing the NDC Programme' page and you'll not only get confirmation of the figure but you'll also see just who's got their sticky hands on the £2m.

So, with the windfall from Sport England, can we expect to see NDC getting a £1m of their money back to spend on the struggling communities of Radford and Hyson Green or will the city just save £1m of their own money? What do you think?