The story of the Save Ladywell Pool campaign, and the Mayor's burnt rubber U-turn, is long and complicated. So long that when I tried to summarise it in this blog just now, I was timed out and lost everything. So here is the abdriged version.
Lewisham Council is consulting on whether a new pool should be built at Loampit Vale or on the site of Ladywell Leisure Centre. The existing pool at Ladywell is 33m long. But the Council is only offering a 25m pool at Loampit Vale, even though any additional cost of a larger pool there would be met by the fat cat developers of the Sundermead site, not by Council Taxpayers (to paraphase the answer I was given to a question I asked at Full Council).
As usual, the Council's consultation is deeply flawed. The consultation questionnaire only offers the choice between (1) a 25m metre pool at Loampit Vale and (2) knocking down the Ladywell Leisure Centre and waiting 2 years for a new pool to be built there, with no guarantee of a larger pool. The Council's desired answer is obvious.
The Save Ladywell Pool campaigners want people to fill in the consultation questionnaire by crossing out the two options above, and replacing them with something like "refurbish and not demolish Ladywell Leisure Centre and retain a 33 metre pool".
For further details of the campaign, more guidance, and copies of the consultation questionnaire, please contact Max Calo at ladywellpool@nicepeople.co.uk
