saveladywellpool.com

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In 2004Lewisham Council announced plans to demolish Ladywell Leisure Centre in 2007 - we saved it! The pool will stay open until the forecast replacement is ready.  Sadly the plan is awfully inadequate and instead of being a plan for a community sport and leisure centre it is a plan for a lifestyle pool for the new residential developments to be built in front of Lewisham Station.

The following pages are maintained by the SAVE LADYWELL POOL CAMPAIGN who can be contacted on ladywellpool@hotmail.com

Trust me I'm a politician

South London Press - October 2002

The people of Downham in my constituency will soon experience a revolution in the quality of their local amenities, following the go-ahead of the brand new leisure, sport, health and learning centre which is soon to be built with a mix of council, government and private finance.

For those who are not familiar with it, Downham is an inter-war estate on the Lewisham/Bromley border, which has been suffering for years from a poor provision of public services, especially for young people.

I played my part in the process by listening to what local people wanted, and then liasing with Lewisham's top councillors and then the government to ensure that the scheme would get cabinet-level backing. It did, and the resulting complex will be an astounding improvement.
It will include a swimming pool for both public and school use, a fitness studio, a crèche, and health facilities to house two GP surgeries.
Outside, it will house a children's playground and 20 acres of public parkland including mini-football pitches and nearby changing facilities. Crucially, the new development will also house a brand new public library, along with state of the art IT facilities.

Of course, the old will have to make way for the new, and the library which is currently available to Downham residents will soon have to be demolished so that work can begin on the new development.
I think it is crucial that residents are able to continue to use library facilities whilst the work is going on, and the council has agreed to provide a mobile library, which will serve local people for the duration of the works. 
I have heard that there are some in our community who have been saying that Lewisham Council will not be providing this interim service, and am therefore  pleased to reassure Downham's library users and readers of the SLP that these rumours are not true and that library provision will be maintained whilst the new development is built.

The residents of BR1 have campaigned energetically and with great patience over the years for these new facilities. And they will be a wonderful boost for a community  which has already worked hard to achieve a  70% reduction in youth unemployment and steadily rising school standards>