Paddlesport centre reaches funding shortlist

Fundraising for Scotland's first competition standard, purpose built paddlesports centre gathers momentum as the £2.2m facility on the Forth & Clyde Canal in Glasgow is short-listed for an award by The People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund. The winners will be announced on Tuesday 31st January.

Pinkston Paddlesports, in the Pinkston Basin opposite the former Diageo plant at Port Dundas, is a key project within the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project (GCRP).

Led by partners Glasgow City Council, British Waterways Scotland and ISIS Regeneration, the GCRP 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.

Pinkston Paddlesports will, it is hoped, attract 25,000 users a year once built and become a centre for sporting excellence for canoeing. It will also be an exciting, inclusive and year round hub for the local communities on the canal in North Glasgow.

The centre is being driven by the GCRP partners (Glasgow City Council, British Waterways Scotland and ISIS) alongside The Waterways Trust Scotland and an eager group of paddlesports enthusiasts who have formed a dedicatedcharitable company, Glasgow Watersports, to fundraise for the centre and then manage and develop Pinkston Paddlesports once it is open.

The artificial whitewater course for Pinkston Paddlesports was designed by Andy Laird of Engineering Paddler Designs (EPD). Andy, whose father 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 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 been shortlisted for lottery funding and we hope it 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."

Richard Millar, Waterway Development Manager, British Waterways Scotland, says:"Now that we have planning permission, it is really exciting to begin the fundraising drive for what will be a major new sporting amenity for Glasgow and the country as a whole, and we are delighted to be short-listed in the People's Postcode Lottery Dream Fund.

"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."

Andy Watt, Chair of Glasgow Watersports, adds:"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.

"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."

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 Other projects to date in the Glasgow Canal Regeneration Project include the restoration of Maryhill Locks and major new housing development; 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.