Council slammed for ‘hampering’ efforts to bring back old baths

Volunteers working to one day reopen Aberdeen’s disused Bon Accord Baths claim the city council is “really hampering” efforts to bring the art deco building back into use.

The Bon Accord Heritage group has hit out at the council, accusing senior political figures and officials of being “largely disengaged” with their work to reopen the listed pool – despite promising to set up a working group of officials to work alongside them.

Aberdeen City Council allowed the charity to take responsibility for the building last summer, meaning the public could gain entry to see the restoration in progress.

Since then, the pool hall has been made wind and watertight, while work to increase security and remove vegetation from the roof has been carried out.

A feasibility study currently under way could soon spell out the full cost of restoration, which is expected to take years.

Closed by the local authority in 2008, the city’s oldest pool has remained drained ever since.

Last week, calls for council officials to lay out options for investing potentially hundreds of thousands of pounds in the council-owned facility in Justice Mill Lane were voted down.

Councillors from the SNP and Liberal Democrats – the two parties in charge when the axe fell – had pressed for the funding to come from a £150 million pot of cash set up to bankroll regeneration works in the city centre and at the beach.

Trustee Fiona Stevenson said: “It sounded like Aberdeen City Council has been proactive in offering us regular support, when they’ve been largely disengaged with us, not responding to our communications or requests for meetings.

“This lack of engagement is really hampering our efforts.

“Despite an initial positive meeting in late 2020, apologies were tabled for subsequent meetings and it has not been possible to arrange new dates.”

Councillor Marie Boulton revealed she had not been privy to discussions about any working group – and could not account for the chief executive’s alleged failure to reply. The council’s lead spokeswoman said: “It is important we all get together once again and move forward, I’m not interested in ‘He said, she said’. Recriminations are not particularly helpful for anyone and I would be interested to see where they have got to.”

“I’m not interested in ‘He said, she said’

Bon Accord backers are unimpressed by the council.