Michael, as I understand your proposals, there woud be 'live/work' units (on just one floor?) each with a flat (sold or ?rented quite separately) above it. That suggests that the 'live/work' unit would be some sort of workshop with a flat (much smaller than the one upstairs) behind it - is that right? What sort of businesses do you envisaging buying (or renting?) such units? Are you confident that there is a market for them and that they would command a high enough price to raise their share of the ?1.5m?

You say in your letter: 'Unfortunately Willow Way cannot completely cross-subsidise the estimated cost of the pool if it does cost ?12.5m, with a shortfall of ?5m from the funds the council have earmarked for the Forest Hill pool. We believe that most of the remaining ?3m shortfall can be addressed by the reduced cost of building over that [the?] last two years [i.e because you assume building costs will have fallen in a few years time?] and by careful consideration to reduce costs on the site.' (My emphasis) Can you reassure us that you are confident that this latter can be achieved without deleterious effects on the specification and quality of the building?