Personally I am glad to see Louise House preserved, although listing may present problems which could have been avoided if the council had included it as an option from the start.

The public meeting last night was pretty rowdy, with people from both sides expressing their heartfelt feelings. It appeared to me that the council officers had not considered the possibility of Louise House being listed and were in shock; they were very negative in their outlook. Cllr John Russell said that "the decision on Louise House means that we will not get two pools, we will get less facilities and it will mean an increased delay" while Steve Gough (Director of Programme Management & Property) said that "refurbishment of Louise House will be complicated and expensive. Development of the site will now be very difficult as there will be no housing land". Aileen Buckton (Executive Director Community Services) was the most positive, stating "we will have to go away and do work to outline the implications of listing. Heritage funding is slow and could add years to the project. How long do you want to wait? We have to be careful that we can deliver"

I think it would be fair to say that most people present wanted a well designed, two pool solution with minimal housing and that many wanted the Superintendent's block retained. Indeed, Aileen Buckton stated that the council favoured a two pool solution, but that the finances were not there. Everybody wanted a proper, full consultation this time.

We should see the listing of Louise House is an opportunity, not an obstacle. It could easily be put back into use as a creche/nursery and could also be used to provide the youth, IT or other community facilities envisaged in option 3 at minimal cost. Alternatively, it may be possible to locate the gym facilities on the ground floor. This would leave the pool and parklet area available for development as a wet facility. Service access may still be from Thorpewood Avenue with the frontage onto Dartmouth Road being landscaped to draw the three buildings together. I am sure that an inspired architect could integrate Louise House into any new facility if necessary. I don't want to see Louise House turned into flats, especially when the costings show that there would be no profit to plough into any leisure facilities.