First Post - The project to date

Welcome to the Aquativity blog, also known as The Road to Aquativity.

Future posts will be, as you might expect, updates on what is happening day to day on the project.  But many of you might know little or nothing about Aquativity, so it might be worth using this first post for a potted history of the project so far...

4th New Forest North (Eling) Sea Scouts is one of 101 Royal Navy Recognised Sea Scout Groups in the UK.  It has been running for just over 50 years as a Sea Scout Group, based in various locations around Eling and Totton, which lie between the New Forest to the West and Southampton to the East.  We are currently based to the South of Totton, backing onto the Lower Test Nature Reserve at the head of Southampton Water.  Our hut is getting rather old, and despite a recent makeover by a Community Service team, is really on its last legs.  As an active Sea Scout Group, we also spend a lot of time sailing, rafting, kayaking and rowing.  While Southampton Water and its tributaries are very local, they are not ideal for absolute beginners to boating.  So a few years ago we started to look for a new home.

...and we found one at Testwood Lakes, a beautiful nature reserve at the site of some gravel pits to the North of Totton.  As well as providing a haven for wildlife, Southern Water and New Forest District Council wanted to see the site used for recreational boating, but in a controlled way.  So they wanted an organisation to build and manage a facility there, specifically for local youth groups and disabled people's groups to gain access to boating.

Put the last 2 paragraphs together and you get a match.  Aquativity was born as a project run by the Sea Scouts, to provide the Sea Scouts with a new headquarters for land-based and water-based activities, and to provide the community with an accessible boating facility.  We've been running our boating there for the last couple of years now, but no headquarters yet.  Our boat store is currently a tightly packed shipping container, and our changing rooms are 2 pop-up tents with lighting run on a portable generator!

Our 'Boat Store' on the land where the building will go

We've now designed a 2-storey building to go on the shore of the lake, got full planning permission for it, and we are in the process of completing this design to the satisfaction of the building inspectors so we can start building.

Just a few of the issues you should expect to see updates on in this blog are:

• Finance - putting up a building and running it costs money!  We have some, but need more
• Building design - what do we have planned, and how will it be used by different groups
• Planning conditions discharge - we have a set of conditions to meet and discharge with NFDC Planning Control
• Building regulations approval - we can't build without it - working with NFDC Building Control
• Utilities connections - we need electricity, clean water, and somewhere to put our waste water
• Building contractors and materials - we need someone to actually put up the building
• Building status - how are we getting on and what does it look like
• Boating equipment - what do we have, and what do we need
• Instructors and training - who leads the boating sessions and how do they get qualified
• Donations of cash, materials, services and equipments - we have some fantastic benefactors, so we'll let you know when they come along and help us
• Operations planning - who will use Aquativity, and how do we make arrangements for them
• Sailability - the disabled sailing arm of RYA, who want a club at Aquativity and have particular needs we are working with them to meet
• Sea Scouts - what are we doing apart from the Aquativity project
• Boating highlights - events and activities at the lakes and beyond
• Testwood Lakes Management Forum - our partners on the site, who each have their own concerns
• ...and lots more

It's a busy project, run by a busy, thriving group.  Lots to do and lots to tell you about.  Please keep visiting to see what is going on - we'll try to keep you informed on progress, and try not to bore you with all the frustrations we are going through on the way.  And if you have ideas for the project or the way we are recording it, please post your comments.  If you want to offer some help or support, email us.