I have now moved out of London but have kept in touch with the
happenings at York Hall as I was a regular swimmer and user of the
baths for over 20years. There is no way I could afford to pay the
prices suggested in your update. I can only access a 'steam room'
where I now live at my local leisure centre. I have to say it is
pitiful after the York Hall baths and I am so fed up with poor
cleaniliness and / or showers not working I have nearly gievn up on
this. I hope those of you who are still involved in the long drawn
out process of trying to negotiate will contiue to hold out for what
you believe in. I had fully intended to visit the new baths when next
in London but at those prices will probably not. Good luck to you
all.
Gill
--- In Yorkhall@..., "Mark Mitchell"
<mark.mitchell@...> wrote:
>
> I'm reposting Paul's report as some of us, including me, didnt get
> the first copy by email.
>
> Please feedback to the group your comments and copies of emails to
> the council/GLL/MP's/media or anyone else !
>
> Best Regards - Mark
>
> York Hall users group meeting - reporting back
>
> Didn't take notes, I'm sorry, but the gist is this:
>
> The meeting started late - 20 minutes late. It's nice of them to
> organise these meetings but each time they start late and each time
> they say, we've got to cut short the questions because we're
running
> out of time. Hmmm. Funny that.
>
> Colin McBride, the architect, gave us his usual efficient sweep
> through progress so far. We went though all elements of York Hall -
> front of house, gym, pool, changing areas, main
> hall, 'spa'. Useful overview and good to see that almost everything
> is complete. The 'spa' would be handed over to Greenwich Leisure in
> the third week of March (just in time to celebrate one year's delay
> in the works).
>
> James Bowden, York Hall general manager, told us how well the
centre
> was doing and how more people were using the place and were happier
> with it - 52,000 people using the gym and satisfaction levels were
> at 87%. Fair enough. Decent guy, prepared to listen (I think)and I
> suggest you put any questions/suggestions through to him: email -
> James.Bowden@...
>
> Then it came to the spa. Paul Martindill from Tower Hamlets council
> gave us what he said was the proposed programme for the 'spa' (I
put
> spa in inverted commas because this is a piece of typically inept
> rebranding from the typically inept Alex Smith, 'Spa' manager -
> more of her later).
> The nice folk at Greenwich Leisure and Tower Hamlets council were
> disturbed that more men than women used York Hall 'spa' in the old
> days. Their brilliant way of making amends is to now give four days
> over to women, and just 2 for men (Mons and Thurs) - Sundays would
> be the one mixed day. This was astonishing enough but more was to
> come. We now stared up in disbelief as the overhead projector
> revealed the prices for 'spa' entry. Ready? OK, it's going to be
£20
> for non-members, £17 for members and £7 for concessions. General
> uproar in the room. At this point the oleaginous arch-careerist Andy
> McCabe (operations director at Greenwich Leisure, I believe) rushed
> to the defence of his own lunacy. The prices, he claimed, were
> comparable with any other facility of this kind - ie Porchester
Spa.
> But as someone pointed out, hadn't he noticed Tower Hamlets was one
> of the most deprived boroughs in the country? It wasn't the same as
> Westminster. Duh!
> McCabe rather lost his rag at this and said, did we think we should
> have priced entry at 99p? To which we might have replied no, but a
> rational compromise would have been nice. Or maybe some discussion
> with the user group?
>
> Unfortunately one or two members of the audience wanted to do more
> than their fair share of shouting - a shame because other people
had
> things they wanted to say but couldn't. It would have been nice to
> ask TH and GL how any ordinary person living on a low wage - no,
not
> benefits, a low or even an average wage - could possibly afford to
> go to such a place. These guys talk all the time about 'diversity'
> and 'inclusion' and what do they do?
> Price entry at a level to keep ordinary working people out. The
> place is now officially for the well-paid middle classes. Ayudervic
> treatment anyone? That will be £60, please...
>
> We were also told that at all times - not just the mixed sessions,
> but ALL times, we would have to wear bathing suits (they would
> doubtless have to match the robes and slippers we were told would
be
> given us when we entered the baths). Martindill said
their 'research'
> told them this would be popular. I look forward to seeing
> that 'research' (they have so much 'research' in fact that the
> super-oily McCabe couldn't even remember what it was called). The
> highlight of the evening was when McCabe said the bathing suits
> policy was more 'inclusive' (people in suits love that word)
because
> a Bangladeshi woman would then feel she could visit the baths. If
> McCabe knew anything about York Hall and if he had two brain cells
> to rub together for an intelligent thought, he would know that the
> York Hall he
> despises was one of the most genuinely inclusive places on the
> planet. Do feel free to email your appreciation of his efforts:
> andy.mccabe@...
>
> So that's about it. Everyone in the room was flabbergasted. We ran
> out of time to ask any more questions. I would have liked to have
> asked the ever-smiling Alex Smith, who as far as I can tell has
> nothing between her ears but her own vanity and banal ambition,
what
> she thought she was doing coming into a place like this with so
> little experience and with such contempt for the people who use the
> centre. She is well down the road in her career- enhancing
> rebranding of the York Hall baths, transforming it into the London
> SpaExperience, a rebranding so vacuous, so utterly out of keeping
> with the character of the place and out of touch with the spirit
and
> history of the borough that I find myself almost in awe of her
> stupidity.
>
> So what now? I have my own ideas, but would like to hear other
> people's first. Paul
>