Councillors have voted to explore the feasibility of reopening a community facility in Leith.

Campaign group Splashback have been working to ensure Leith Waterworld remains a sports and social hub within the Leith community, and will now have council support during an 11-month development phase to establish if the facility can be operated within the parameters of a finalised business plan.

Edinburgh Council says the continuation of the bid beyond this phase is dependent on the group securing funding to invest in the facility and, further, on their business plan meeting with the approval of an independent third party.


The Council is to put up £100,000 to help fund the feasibility study, while a dedicated Councillor/Officer Working-Group will be set up to support Splashback in developing their bid.

Councillors will then decide upon a report on the results of the study once the development phase ends.

Following this, a decision on the facility's future will be taken.

Cllr Richard Lewis, Culture and Leisure Convener, said: "I want to acknowledge the considerable time and effort that Splashback have committed to their bid thus far.

"While there remains a tremendous amount of work to be done in the months ahead, we want to give the community the best possible chance of success by providing the necessary funding and support toward taking their proposals to the next phase.

"We owe it to the people of Edinburgh to do everything we can to preserve this valuable community asset."

On 20 September, councillors granted Splashback additional time, plus dedicated support from council officers, to present a more robust business case.

(IT)