Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Delay to Olympia pool repairs ‘smacks of incompetence’
while pursuing a suspect in Arbroath, fracturing his left arm in five places.
He could at least console himself that the break was not on the right arm he bowls with.
“It wasn’t funny fracturing the humerus,” Darren says. “I am still recovering and still getting physio and at the gym.”
Darren is preparing for the Birmingham Commonwealth Games between July 28 and August 8.
He will skip the triples team with Lanarkshire’s Iain McLean in the middle and Stewart Anderson leading. Darren will also play in the fours alongside Alex Marshall, Paul Foster and Stewart.
Might Birmingham be his swansong?
“I very much take it tournament to tournament because it is a big two-year cycle,” says Darren, who is ranked 15 in the indoor world rankings.
“It has been a phenomenal career. I have had great support from the wife and kids. They get behind me 100% and come with me to the events.”
He is also grateful for the support of Arbroath, underlined in January when he became an ambassador for the town’s football club alongside darts star Alan Soutar, tennis ace Jonny O’Mara and golf commentator Ewen Murray.
Darren says: “I have always liked Arbroath as a town and never felt the need to leave it. There is a great community spirit. It has all I want.”
A SWIMMING group has hit out at a further delay to repairs being carried out at the Olympia pools in Dundee.
The pools have been shut since October after a series of issues were discovered, including corrosion.
But a full tender for the work is still not ready – meaning major repairs in the £32 million building are still not under way eight months on.
It had been hoped the repairs report would go before councillors on Monday for approval, allowing contractors to finally get on site.
But it has been confirmed this will not happen.
Councillors go on recess from July 2 to August 13.
It is understood some members may be recalled to approve the tender – a rare move for the local authority – but a date for a meeting has yet to be confirmed.
It was previously estimated the work would cost up to £4.5m and take 45 weeks but both could change in the tender.
David Haig, Dundee City Aquatics coach, now fears the closure could run for at least two years.
He said: “This is highly frustrating. The timescale keeps getting put further and further back.
“My fear is it’s heading towards a year since the pools were first shut and there is still no light at the end of the tunnel.
“I worry that this is going to go on and on and the pools remains shut.
“I don’t know what their issue is. When council officers were asked in March if they needed specialists to advise they said they could deal with it in-house – that seems laughable now as we are no further forward.
“This all just smacks of incompetence on the part of Dundee City Council.
“I fear we are years away from having the pools fixed and ready to reopen.”
Kevin Keenan, leader of the opposition Labour group, said: “It’s really important we find out what work is going to be required at the pool and how much that is going to cost.
“This must be dealt with as quickly as possible. We are in this position because of lack of maintenance on the part of Dundee City Council and it’s time we were able to let people know what’s going to happen.”
Lib Dem leader Fraser Macpherson said: “I have sought assurances from council chief executive Greg Colgan that we get full information in terms of tendering for this work as a matter of urgency.
“I was surprised to see there is nothing on the agenda for Monday. The longer this process takes, the longer it’s going to be before we finally get the pool reopened.
“We had hoped this would happen in early 2023 but given the latest position that now looks highly unlikely.”
A Dundee City Council spokesperson said: “The council is working on a report that will be presented to councillors in due course.
“We are also preparing a tender report detailing costs involved and timescales that will be considered at the same public meeting.”