Clapham is set to lose its pool for at least 17 months

Three years after fighting the last council elections on a promise to “Keep Clapham Swimming”, Labour Lambeth have announced plans to close and demolish the Clapham Leisure Centre in September.

While Lambeth Council says that another will be built on the site, even by their own figures Clapham would be without a pool for at least 17 months – and many expect it to be much longer.  Indeed, in the current economic recession, there must be a serious risk that, even if the project starts, it may never be completed.

“Labour has betrayed the people of Clapham,” says former Councillor Bernard Gentry.  “They promised to ‘Keep Clapham Swimming’ and now they are closing the pool.  What other Council would demolish one of its main leisure centres in the run up to the London Olympics when demand for swimming facilities will be increasing?”

“Their actions are reckless and risk leaving Clapham without a pool for several years,” adds Sebastian Lowe.  “There is plenty of space to build a new pool on the Mary Seacole House or the Depot site, which would mean that the existing pool would then remain open until the new one is built.  Why is Labour so keen not to preserve the continuity of service and start off by demolishing the existing pool?”

A local Labour MP has admitted that the economy is wrecked after 11 years of Labour Goverment and facing a recession “deeper than any that we have known”.

Tessa Jowell, the Olympics Minister, made the admission while being interviewed about London’s bid for the 2012 Olympics on the BBC’s Daily Politics.  The stunning confession came only weeks after the Chancellor predicted that the economy would return to growth in the second half of 2009.