As many of you probably know I don’t make a habit of posting on the web sites which facilitate discussion of local matters – not because I’m not interested but because there aren’t enough hours in the day.

However once in a while something comes up which I feel compelled to comment on and the discussion about the designs for Forest Hill Pools and which image the Labour Party used on a recent leaflet is a just such a case.

First let me be clear that I don’t control the images the Labour Party uses (if I did some of the ones of me wouldn’t see the light if day!). In this case as I understand it they were seeking a generic image of the new pools and it appears that what they got while meeting that description wasn’t the most up to date one.

The use of that particular image has no more significance than that – it could as easily have been an image of the pools as they are now or one of the rather splendid drawings of what the pool might look like I saw at a local primary school not so long ago.

The point is that there is a consultation going on right now which I hope as many folk as possible will take a look at.

While I’m on I thought I’d have my twopence worth of comment on who can claim credit for what. Lots of people have been involved with the future of the pools going back more than 20 years. When I was council leader back in the 1980s (yes I really am that old) there was a “threat” to Forest Hill Pools which people like myself and Jim Dowd (then a councillor) saw off. It would have been great if we had had the resources then to do a complete rebuild but frankly at that point we had a Conservative government in office that was deliberately running down the infrastructure of our communities not rebuilding them.

Things have changed since then and I have always been clear that I intended to do what I could to have a swimming facility for use by residents of Forest Hill and surrounding areas. I’ve said it before and I’ll repeat it here – if anyone can produce evidence of me proposing anything else I’ll pay for a slap up dinner for them in the Dartmouth.

What has been really difficult is the difference of view between those who wanted a new pool and those who wanted the old building restoring. Factor in all manner of technical issues and we had something which was always going to be hard to resolve. After I was re-elected in 2006 I decided that whatever else I did I was going to sort this issue before the next election. I’m glad I did because post recession times are going to be hard for the public sector – maybe not as hard as they were in the 1980s but still pretty tough.

Anyway we have now found a way forward and I’ve managed to make the money just about add up so we can afford what is now being consulted on. I’m afraid I’m not going to enter in to a protracted discussion on this as I’ve also got the rest of Lewisham to deal with. I will post things on my own web site over the coming weeks – and no doubt Forest Hill will feature at some point!

http://www.mayorsteve.co.uk/