Mo, Mar 13, 2006The Swiss Cottage pool non-option
Via: Ham & HighHam & High - Camden News - Back in the swim at Swiss:
...The 25-metre competition-length pool is smaller than the original 33-yard metre pool.
Last month the council announced its £175 swim cards will no longer be available from April 1.
The cheapest membership deal will instead be the £480 Wellness scheme...
This week, north of the river, the new Swiss Cottage Pool opens its doors to the public and where once stood an airy and spacious swimming pool and sports centre now stands a mixed development.
A library, a theatre, a small swimming pool and 169 flats.
This is remarkably similar to what Lewisham Council plans to build as part of the redevelopment of the Town Centre and what our outgoing Mayor is trying to sell us as a good reason to give up on Ladywell.
In Swiss Cottage there used to be a 33 mt pool and a larger teaching pool.
Now there is a smaller teaching pool and a 25 mt. pool.
This is exactly what Lewisham Council plans to build to replace Ladywell!
With this new sports centre at Swiss Cottage, Camden Council even plans to make a profit on its leisure provision.
The Ham and High also tells us that:
...Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), which took over the contract to manage Camden's leisure centres last April, will split profits beyond a target level with the council...
What is this? Racketeering?
What looks remarkably like a private sports centre with fees in line with the private sector has to split its profits with the local authority.
...Ben Dixon from GLL said: "Gym machines are very popular. It is no secret that the gym helps us subsidise the rest of the costs of the centre.
"This does help us offset offering our other facilities cheaply for community use."
Less swimming pool, more gym machines.
The people of Camden now have a smaller facility that cannot cater for the community and there isn't any need to keep it affordable because it's so small that there will always be enough well off people willing to pay good money to use it.
This is exactly the same clever scheme that Lewisham Council's eggheads came up with in 1999 and they are still trying to implement it.In Camden this is now a reality.
We must not allow this to happen here! ...read more...