We, Mar 21, 2007Area Forum sets Agenda Item for Mayor and Cabinet
At the Area Forum for Lewisham Central, Lee Green and Blackheath that took place yesterday Tuesday 20th March 2007 the residents attending the meeting took advantage of a little known prerogative granted to Area Forums by the Constitution of the London Borough of Lewisham, the right to place an item in the agenda of the Executive.
As far as we know this was also the first time ever that an Area Forum has made use of this prerogative.
The residents present at the Area Forum voted in favour of including the following in the Agenda for the next Mayor and Cabinet meeting:
The Mayor is asked to agree that:
- the consultation on the Loampit Vale development carried out in October 2006 was inadequate and a new consultation should be undertaken;
- the Leisure Needs Assessment that underpinned the project for the new Leisure Centre has serious shortcomings and does not provide an adequate platform for the planning of the leisure facilities in the Borough;
- a new leisure needs assessment should be commissioned and that such assessment should consider a realistic forecast of increase in population, including the new developments at the Town Centre that are forecast by the change of UDP. It should also include those parts of the neighbouring London Borough of Greenwich falling into the catchment area as well as paying attention to the impact of the transport interchange;
- any detailed project for the new leisure centre be based on this new leisure needs assessment;
- a study of the impact of the re-location of the Leisure Centre from Ladywell to Loampit Vale should be carried out;
- a survey to assess the structural condition of the Ladywell Leisure Centre be conducted by an expert surveyor;
- the refurbishment of Ladywell Pool be costed and put to consultation as an option;
- the new leisure centre should not lose facilities compared to Ladywell Leisure Centre including a pool tank of equivalent or greater size than at Ladywell and the provision of an adequate deep end of the pool for the maintenance of scuba-diving training and the eventual re-introduction of competitive diving in the Borough;
But the debate wasn't uncontroversial. One member of the public warned the assembly that they might be about to carry an illegal act and asked officers to consider stopping the vote from happening but fortunately this attempt of stopping democracy from expressing itself was unsuccessful.
The vote was carried and with 22 votes for and 1 vote against, the motion was approved.
It was later revealed that the lonesome opponent was none other that a former Labour Councillor and Leader of Lewisham Council between 1995 and 1998.
Is there anything better than a unanimous vote?
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