Th, May 11, 2006Open Letter
The following is the content of a letter that we sent to all members of Lewisham Council:...read more...Dear Councillor,
In last Thursday's local elections, the people of Lewisham showed clearly through the ballot box that they reject the plans for swimming pool and school provision on which Mayor Steve Bullock and the Labour Party stood at this election.
The move to unseat Labour councillors was not a mere swing of the national pendulum, which Lewisham has resisted for the last 35 years, but a change focussed in precisely those parts of the borough most affected by the closure of Forest Hill Pools and the threatened closure of the Ladywell Leisure Centre.
The Save Ladywell Pool Campaign therefore calls for the Labour Party members of Lewisham Council to sit down with the opposition groups and agree a new plan for swimming pool and school provision to ensure:
* Continuous provision of swimming in Central Lewisham
* A new school to be built where it is most needed, on available land in the North of the Borough
It calls on all elected councillors in the new majority to stand firmly by their election pledges and avoid making any deals to support Mayor Bullock's administration until and unless these conditions are met.
Lewisham Labour Party's reputation for competent administration has been exposed during the course of our campaign as having unreliable foundations and the voters have clearly understood this.
If Mayor Bullock chooses to continue as before, interpreting his minority vote as a mandate for business as usual, Labour's reputation faces total demolition.
However, another four years without proper leisure and schools provision is more than the people of Lewisham can afford.
It's therefore time for a new beginning and a better deal for the people of Lewisham and the Save Ladywell Pool Campaign, which has always included supporters of all of the parties on Lewisham Council, will do everything it can to make this happen.