saveladywellpool.com

Wavelengths too late for Lewisham schools

Last year Mayor Bullock received the Leisure Investment Strategy Review - one particular paragraph of that document gives the sense of the damage to the Borough that the eventual implementation of the Council's Slapstick Sport Strategy would inevitably produce:

There is an issue with regard to the closure of Ladywell before a new pool has been provided and, while a temporary pool has been considered, this is unlikely to be viable. It is suggested that notwithstanding the opening of Downham, the loss of any further water space before Ladywell has been replaced may make it impossible to deliver the Borough’s school swimming programme....

It was therefore suggested that a new lane swim pool would be added to the Wavelengths Paddling Centre and this was envisaged to happen by March 2007, a few months earlier than the programmed closure of the Ladywell Leisure Centre.

Now the feasibility study for the new lane pool to be added to the Wavelengths Paddling Centre has been finally delivered to the Mayor and will be discussed at next Mayor and Cabinet this coming Wednesday.
At this stage the projected cost is between £3.6 million and £4.35 million.

The report says that the 2007 date of delivery is unachievable and that the earlier a new pool can be built is Spring 2008, and this hoping for good weather and a consistent dose of luck throughout.
But we all know that this never happens (Wembley, Clissold, Bath Spa...).

This is an extremely easy project, it's about building a straightforward pool over a car-park.

It just says what a folly it is to think about demolishing Ladywell without a plan for a replacement.

Here's some highlights from the report:

Given the Council's aspiration to complete the new pool building before closure of the Ladywell Leisure Centre in 2007, Diagram 1 shows the shortest practically achievable development programme. It will be appreciated that this is extremely tight...

...and this sees the new pool re-opening in the Spring of 2008. This after the proposed closure of Ladywell Leisure Centre but at a time when there will be a slow build-up of trade before the summer peak – if the Ladywell closure could be delayed, a continuous service could be maintained...

...Overall, it is considered that in the special situation that would arise at Wavelengths as a result of the Ladywell closure, the new building will open with a ready swimmer market and many of the usual concerns with regard to the building of attendances over several years will not apply. Conversely, a concern may be the impact of opening the new Sundermead site after 2010, at which time the Wavelengths complex could lose significant business - to that end, it is important to ensure that any extensions are not so large as to be unsustainable in the long term.

In short, if Ladywell closes in September 2007, children in Lewisham will have to take Will Self's advice and practice their front crawl lying down over a kitchen chair.

Finally - if we ever needed an evidence of this initiative being an electoral smoke-screen taken in reaction to the surge in disapproval of Steve Bullock's plans for Ladywell - this report gives us also the not so small figure of our money that the Council will pay to do this job now rather than in a few year's time, when in 2011 the contract with Parkwood Leisure for the running of the centre expires.

It's £ 390,000 for expenses and loss of income as Wavelengths will have to close for 4 months to finish the project and link the new pool to the existing building.

As usual, when the Mayor's re-election is on the line no expenses are spared.

Here's the full report for you to download and read at bedtime (pdf 3.2 MB). ...read more...