A look at Ladywell pool and its recent struggles
The Ladywell Leisure Centre was built in 1965 and has been since the most important swimming centre for a very vast area of the Borough of Lewisham which counts about a quarter of a million inhabitants.
Every day several hundreds of users cross its doors. The pool is constantly bustling with people from one or the other of the different groups of users that draw benefit from the existence of this asset of our community.
- The pensioners, that mantain their muscular tone with a gentle exercise that doesn't put strain on bones and joints as only can be done in the water.
- The youths that have fun together, learning to swim and dive.
- The family groups. Parents and children, coming to spend an hour together in the pool are one of the stronger groups of users. The pool is a great tool for parenting too.
- The swimming club members. The existence of this sporting association, a reality of our community, that provide an excellent framework of physical activity to our children is dependent on to the availability of a swimming pool of quality in the centre of Lewisham.
- The adult users that keep fit here with regular swimming sessions.
- The local schools that fulfill the national curriculum by giving all children the opportunity to learn to swim.
- The patients referred by their GP for rehabilitative exercise. This group includes people that have suffered a number of conditions such as heart conditions, arthritis and diabetes.
In the recent past the pool has passed through a very difficult period.
The first time that it came under attack was when Lewisham Council offered it to the Metropolitan Police as the site for the new police station. A determined campaign of residents, coupled with the scarce interest of the Met for this site, spared the faith that the council intended for the LLC.
Then, on August 16th 2002 the pool closed to remove asbestos found in the building by contractors. The initial forecast was for the works to finish within weeks. Then the weeks became 3 of 4 months. Finally it re-opened to the public after 20 (twenty) months at a cost of £1.8million.
The re-opening happened on June 14th 2004.
Very suspiciously the council didn't make any announcement of this re-opening.
Why?
The answer to this question came just two weeks after, when the Mayor announced through a local newspaper that the centre will be shut and demolished in 2007 to make way for a new secondary school. He added that the people is not against this plan, as a new upgraded replacement will be built in 2010 as part of the redevelopment of Lewisham centre.<
How did he know that there weren't objections to his plan? The only possible answer is that he was visited by an angel that told him so. As far as we know nobody was asked a thing about it.
To put it plainly, the Mayor decided on the demolition of one of the great assets of central Lewisham without any consultation with residents and users. All this without any study on the effects that the absence of a swimming facility like this for at least 3 years will have on the community. >
