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Forest Hill Pool
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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #121
29-02-2008 03:27 PM

I apprecaite a high quality pool would be ideal. But I understand swimming pools ( per user ) work out a lot more expensive than other recreational activities. Are those pushing for a pool prepared to pay an economic rate for use.?
I will probably be highly criticised for mentioning money but surely what we can get for the money available is important.

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annsquire66


Posts: 105
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #122
29-02-2008 03:34 PM

I would like to see the emphasis put on providing 2 proper pools in a building that complements the library.
My son (11) would like the slides/flumes etc but they don't seem to be very robust or reliable elsewhere and would therefore probably be too expensive to maintain. Comfortable (draughtproof!) toilets/changing facilities, a gym and a cafe with a large enough seating area to double as a meeting room perhaps?
Personally I find histories of buildings and areas fascinating and it would help to keep the memories of a wonderful place alive.
Let's hope it doesn't take forever to complete...

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gingernuts


Posts: 505
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #123
29-02-2008 03:40 PM

Not at all. We fight for the right building and a sufficient level of funding. We should not accept any old rubblish the planners chuck at us! Especially if they knock down the original building and facade, that typically characterizes Forest Hill.

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shzl400


Posts: 729
Joined: Oct 2007
Post: #124
29-02-2008 03:43 PM

brian wrote:
I apprecaite a high quality pool would be ideal. But I understand swimming pools ( per user ) work out a lot more expensive than other recreational activities. Are those pushing for a pool prepared to pay an economic rate for use.?
I will probably be highly criticised for mentioning money but surely what we can get for the money available is important.


Yes, they are very expensive, which is why we should not even consider the possibility of entertaining the thought of not having pools or the council will go back on its word faster than very fast thing on amphetamines.

If there's not enough money to build all the things we want and need, and sufficient revenue funding from the council (NOT the users) to maintain and run them adequately, then we must push for additional funding, because of the shoddy way in which this project has been treated to date and the loss of the Victorian building. It is a political hot potato and the council will be handling it with kid gloves. Now is the time to ask for everything possible - no doubt it will be chiselled away later.....

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NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #125
29-02-2008 04:02 PM

I have spoken to a builder of sports halls (who have built locally) and they tell me that a budget of ?10m is reasonable for a sports complex including 18x33 sports hall and two pools.

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #126
29-02-2008 04:04 PM

Yes I appreciate the building costs but was thinking ,more about day to day costs. Does anyone know this.??

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ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #127
29-02-2008 04:20 PM

According to the Capita reviews it said attendance at Forest Hills is likely to increase by 5o% following the new build but much of that increase will be people switching from The Bridge.

Prior to the closure the council paid ?223,000 to Parkward who said they were making a loss of ?55,000, which I believe was met by the council a total of ?285,000.

The new build option approved by the Mayor was said to have an expected income of ?310,000 and expenditure would be some ?585,000. The overall deficit would be some ?275,000.

The Capita review said The Bridge was already under performing now if it loses 20-30% of its customers then what looks ok at Forest Hill could be more costly for the council at The Bridge. Oh and don't forget the new Downham & Wavelengths pools which I assume the council will fund.

Just small things like halving the number of stations in the fitness appear to make significant changes to building costs plus expenditure and revenue.

Re sports hall isn't there one already at Forest Hills Boys School?

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brian


Posts: 2,002
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #128
29-02-2008 04:28 PM

I would imagine Forest Hill School does have a brand new sports hall. Certainly a lot of money has been spent on the new building.
I guess problem is finding times when the school are not using the facilities. I would imagine that on many evenings the school would be using them, but of course could be wrong.

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NewForester


Posts: 379
Joined: Feb 2008
Post: #129
29-02-2008 04:56 PM

brian wrote:
I would imagine Forest Hill School does have a brand new sports hall.

I've spent some time looking for local sports facilities, and the only venue for badminton is "The Bridge" according to Lewisham website's Sports and Leisure directory
However, further research (thanks to your pointer) has come up with this press release from 2006

Quote:
The new centre offers:

* a four badminton court sports hall
* two activity halls
* a 22-station air-conditioned fitness suite
* two 5-a-side football pitches.
...
The Forest Hill centre also offers activities from trampolining to table tennis and many classes including aerobics, kung fu, badminton and yoga.
...
It will be home to the Lewisham Borough Basketball Club coached by current England International, Steve Bucknall as well as the Millwall Lioness and many other clubs.

During week days the Forest Hill Community Sports Centre will be used by Forest hill school, but is open to the community between 6pm and 10pm, and 9am to 4.30pm on Saturdays. The centre is also available to hire contact Carol Lynch, the newly appointed Centre Manager, for more information.

For more information about the Forest Hill Community Sports Centre call 020 8613 0913.

Date published 20 November 2006

I stand corrected.

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seeformiles


Posts: 269
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #130
01-03-2008 12:04 PM

I'd like a pool with adequate lane swimming facilities at reasonable times.
My fear is that it will turn into a 'fun' pool at the expense of basic swimming - many other pools in London seem to be going the same way.

I am of course very angry to hear about the loss of the Victorian building. I've always felt it adds character and I don't see how any new building is going to complement the library. But let's face it, the old FH pool didn't stand a chance after so many years of abject neglect. I used it regularly and even basic maintenance was not being undertaken. The toilets were often broken, showers didn't work etc.

I believe the council have now got the result they always wanted, with the possible bonus of them being able to sell land off to developers.

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seeformiles


Posts: 269
Joined: Apr 2005
Post: #131
01-03-2008 12:10 PM

And one more thing...this place can't be all things to all people. The main priority for us is to have our pools (and a gym) back, surely?
I agree with previous posters that meeting rooms can be found elsewhere.

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ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #132
01-03-2008 08:08 PM

I watched the BBC London news item expecting to see water pouring out of the pool down Dartmouth Road or at least a close up the cracks. Instead there was a view of a pool full of water, a rusty pillar and painting peeling off a wall.

Couldn't the pillar have been exposed as part of the intrusive survey and walls bad due to lack of maintainence over the years.

Did you see the interview with that bearded bloke saying he made the pools what they are today. I'm sure I've seen him before, wasn't he around when the roof fell in at Downham and a swimming pool burnt down in Ladywell?

Anyway Forest Hill Pools can be that dangerous 'cos he wasn't wearing a hard hat.

Re the new building, if it's on a bigger site could they save money by putting all the facilities at one level and save money on a lift?

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Sandy67


Posts: 48
Joined: Dec 2007
Post: #133
03-03-2008 11:15 AM

i'm a bit upset the old buildings are gonna be trashed.. history and swimming would have been lovely .. but my kids used to have swimming lessons there and the changing rooms were freezing Unsure

Also i wonder how they reckon the work could be completed by mid 2010 with a budget of ?9.5m . when Lewisham have now decided they have no money to bring their housing stock up to the governments "better homes standard" by the governments deadline of 2010 so are planning a stock transfer... doubt they'll have even finished balloting the tenants by 2010 Thumbdown

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ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #134
03-03-2008 10:40 PM

Regarding the sports hall at Forest Hill School, I have a brochure produced by the Mayor in 2004 saying the sports hall would open in September 2005. According to the press release it opened a year later on 20 November 2006.

From the BBC interview I had the feeling designs were already drawn up as he referred to the mix of "old and new".

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Ghis


Posts: 321
Joined: Jan 2007
Post: #135
04-03-2008 01:26 PM
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robwinton


Posts: 335
Joined: Jun 2006
Post: #136
04-03-2008 01:28 PM

not sure, but here is the BBC London News programme, in case you missed it

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLd6oz4IUjk[/youtube]

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davyj1


Posts: 11
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #137
04-03-2008 08:27 PM

Hi all

I've just recently found the SE23 site and registered today. This thread interests me a lot because i live very close to the old FH Pools.

It will indeed be a great shame to lose the Victorian facade of the pool building but what i don't understand is the necessity to also flatten Louise House next door. Is that also structurally unsound? It looks pretty solid to me. If they want to maintain some consistency with the library building surely the existing Louise House matches perfectly.

As a side issue, people have been using the space in front of the pool building for parking. When i parked a friend's car there a couple of mornings ago the security guy came out and said i would have to move it sometime in the day because the council were coming to chain up the car park (naturally that never happened). He explained that the place was going to be knocked down. I said that i thought that the demolition wouldn't begin for months. I assume that there must be some kind of safety or insurance issue but no doubt this valuable bit of space will be chained off soon and rendered useless for many months.

The plan for an area of grass and trees extending the full length of the frontage from the library to the small park sounds good. I just hope it isn't to thinly mask the 'carbuncle' that springs up behind.

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thenutfield


Posts: 235
Joined: Nov 2007
Post: #138
05-03-2008 12:08 AM

Now that we know it is going to be a new building, we need to try and make sure it is a great one. It wont be a Peckham Library or a Sydney Opera House - we need to be realistic about the money available - but there is no reason why it shouldnt be a fantastic local facility. Ultra modern does not have to mean ultra high-tech (with all those gadgets that immediately go wrong), I would love to see a basic, functional, contemporary and ultra eco-friendly building.
How it is used is as important as what it looks like, and the council (and local residents) should be planning now about what services and facilities will be there.
With effort, creativity and imagination I would think that most of the many uses people have suggested on this thread could be acommadated. Entrance foyer that doubles as meeting hall, smaller fitness rooms that double as meeting rooms, even a cafe that becomes a restaurant in the evenings!

By the way, i used to use the pools regularly as a kid. all the lockers had a number and you had to use the locker that the life-guard told you to. They were in blocks (1-50, or 51-100 etc). Every half hour or so the life-guard would blow his whistle and hold up a board with numbers on it. If your locker number was on that board, you had to get out! The best game was to try to sneak an extra 5 minutes in the water. hey ho, happy days...

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ForestGump


Posts: 202
Joined: Jan 2008
Post: #139
05-03-2008 10:29 AM

Hello Davyj1,
Re Louise House questions were asked as far back as 2005 but officers and the politicians in power refused to answer. Then in February 2008 the Mayor decides it needs to be demolished.

At the 2005 consultation the public were told to exclude Louise House and the open space from their thoughts. There appears to have been no discussion regarding possible alternative uses of Louise House.

So there has been an exstensive consultation on two options, neither of which will happen.

Without consultation a scheme only known to the council in 2005 is now proposed as the only option.

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davyj1


Posts: 11
Joined: Mar 2008
Post: #140
05-03-2008 11:04 AM

Thanks for bringing me up to speed ForestGump.

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