The winners of The People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund were
announced last night (Tuesday 31st January).
Pinkston Paddlesports, which will be located in the Pinkston
Basin opposite the former Diageo plant at Port Dundas, has also
been awarded £50,000 by The Gannochy Trust.
The two funding awards were made in recognition of the value and
benefit which the exciting, inclusive and year round centre will
offer local communities on the canal in North Glasgow.
Pinkston Paddlesports will, it is hoped, attract 25,000 users a
year once built and become a centre for sporting excellence for
canoeing as well as an amenity for local waterside communities.
Development of the Pinkston Paddlesports centre is being driven
by partners in the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project - Glasgow
City Council, British Waterways Scotland and ISIS Regeneration -
alongside an eager group of paddlesports enthusiasts who have
formed a dedicated charitable company, Glasgow Watersports, to
fundraise for the centre and then manage and develop Pinkston
Paddlesports once it is open.
Development is also being supported by The Waterways Trust
Scotland.
The artificial whitewater course for Pinkston Paddlesports was
designed by Andy Laird of Engineering Paddler Designs (EPD).
Andy, whose grandfather once worked at the former Pinkston Power
Station which once occupied the site, also designed the whitewater
course for the 2012 London Olympics and the Tees Barrage whitewater
course.
The innovative scheme for the artificial whitewater course at
Pinkston Paddlesports, officially named 'The Glasgow
Design', has already attracted international interest and is
currently being exported to Russia.
Pinkston Paddlesports will comprise an intermediate standard
whitewater course (the canoe equivalent of an artificial ski
slope), with a playwave/freestyle feature and facilities for
slalom; two permanent and two temporary canoe polo pitches and a
five metre deep diving tank.
With a clean water basin it will also be very attractive for
triathlon training and will be able to host urban multi-activity
events such as swim or canoe then run or cycle.
The team behind Pinkston Paddlesports believe that, over time,
it will become a recognised training resource for elite athletes, a
hotbed for new talent and a venue for national and regional
competitions.
A number of groups, including the Royal Life Saving Society, are
eager to promote water safety and life saving skills using the new
amenity, which is a clean water pool.
In addition, it is also hoped that the Pinkston Paddlesports
will be used for swift water rescue training by Scotland's eight
Fire and Rescue Services and for police diver training.
The organisers also aim to engage 350 new paddlers each year,
predominantly local youngsters under 25 years, through canoe taster
sessions and school visits.
The innovative Pinkston Paddlesports structure will centre on
former shipping containers converted into low cost storage
facilities for local clubs and organisations to rent out or
purchase as a permanent home.
Pinkston Paddlesports will also feature a boathouse with
changing facilities; a drying room; toilets and showers; an
administration office; a kitchen; and coach education room/
classroom for hosting water safety and coach education courses; and
car park.
The name and design of the Pinkston Paddlesports centre hints at
the history of the location. Pinkston Power Station, which once
stood on the site, featured a tall cooling tower and powered the
Glasgow Tram system before it was demolished in the 1960s. Before
the Pinkston Power Station, there was Pinkston Road and, before
that, Pinkston Farm sat beside the railway.
Bailie Liz Cameron, Executive Member for Development and
Regeneration at Glasgow City Council, said:
"This is great news that this project has secured People's
Postcode Lottery and Gannochy Trust funding and we hope
these will be the first of many successful bids for the canal
partnership.
"Our canal corridor, after the River Clyde, is Glasgow's other
waterfront and its regeneration is a very important project for our
city.
"We have already seen a great amount of investment, both private
and public, along the canal corridor, but this centre will utilise
the canal itself. We hope the new centre will help to bring great
opportunities for sport and recreation both for the local community
in north Glasgow, and for paddlesports enthusiasts from far and
wide. This will be of particular interest to Glasgow's young
people, and will be a great catalyst for change.
"The canal partnership is already developing a sports theme for
the canal to provide further opportunities."
Andy Watt, Chair of Glasgow Watersports,
adds:
"These funding awards are a terrific boost to our fundraising
drive for Pinkston Paddlesports and we are very grateful to the
People's Postcode Lottery and The Gannochy Trust for their
support.
"Pinkston Paddlesports is a hugely exciting prospect for
everyone involved in the sport, at a UK and Scottish level. It will
be a fertile training ground for Scottish athletes who currently
have to live in Nottingham because of the lack of facilities in
their home country. Such athletes include the Olympic Silver
Medallist David Florence and three other Scottish members of the
UK's slalom team at the Beijing Olympics.
"More than anything, it will be a meaningful and much needed
resource for the communities of North Glasgow. Indeed, much of our
focus will be to ensure that Pinkston Paddlesports becomes a
thriving community hub, bringing together local people
within North Glasgow's communities and attracting young people,
particularly those who aren't already active,
providing opportunities for them to get out onto the water,
enjoying and learning about paddling and outdoor adventure.
"We have already begun to work with local communities,
encouraging their involvement in the new centre, by training
community leaders as instructors.
"With so many different activities available, there will be much
to introduce local youth but also the wider public to the joys of
canoeing and rafting the wild waters. Altogether, Pinkston
Paddlesports will be a truly dynamic and exciting venture for
Glasgow and Scotland as a whole."
Richard Millar, Waterway Development Manager, British
Waterways Scotland, says:
"Now that we have planning permission, and these significant
funding awards, we are really underway with the fundraising drive
for what will be a major new sporting amenity for Glasgow and the
country as a whole.
"It's hugely exciting to think that, for the first time,
Scotland will have a whitewater course of national importance.
"The location, so close to the city centre, is ideal and the
facilities will, we believe, be of the level and flexibility
required to attract athletes at the top of their profession through
to beginners 'dipping their toe in the water'.
"Pinkston Paddlesports will not only become nationally important
but will also be a much needed resource for the communities of
North Glasgow which have traditionally been deprived of such
amenities. The new vibrant, exciting and inclusive waterspace
environment will connect North Glasgow with the city centre and
encourage an active, healthy lifestyle amongst the under 25 age
group."
Canoeist David Florence, Olympic Silver Medallist in
Bejing, 2008, and World Cup Champion, 2009, says:
"It is great to see a canoeing facility being built in Scotland
as it can only be a good thing for the development of the
sport."
'A Corridor of Sport'
In the longer term, it is hoped that Pinkston Paddlesports will
be the first step in developing a 'corridor of sport' along the
Glasgow branch of the Forth & Clyde Canal. Future aspirations
include 'Urban Etive', an artificial whitewater course at Maryhill
Locks; canoe trails; and a North Glasgow Circular Path.
Glasgow Canal
Regeneration Project
Pinkston Paddlesports is a key project within the Glasgow Canal
Regeneration Project.
Led by partners Glasgow City Council, British Waterways Scotland
and ISIS Regeneration, the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project is a
long-term strategy to regenerate the Forth & Clyde Canal in
North Glasgow, between Port Dundas and Maryhill, through
sustainable economic development and projects stimulating healthy
active living, culture and tourism.
Other projects to date in the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project
include the restoration of Maryhill Locks and major new housing
development and the creation of a thriving cultural neighbourhood
by Speirs Wharf, which is now home to a number of creative
institutions including Scottish Opera and the Royal Conservatoire
of Scotland and, soon, Glasgow Sculpture Studios.
-ends-
For more information on the Forth & Clyde Canal or other
Scottish canals, visit www.scottishcanals.co.uk
For more information on the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project,
visit www.glasgowcanal.co.uk
For interviews or
accompanying images,
please contact Joanna
Harrison, mobile 07884 187404