Labour hypocrisy in Waltham Forest over school sport

Waltham Forest’s Labour councillors have been condemned for outrageous hypocrisy for putting down a motion on school sports partnerships at tonight’s council meeting while simultaneously.

Slashing funding to the London Youth Games
Hiking charges for schools sports days and other sports activities
Seeking to concrete over the playing fields at Drapers Field for two years

Forest ward Liberal Democrat councillor Farooq Qureshi said:

Labour talks the talk but we see their true colours when it comes to the decisions for which they are responsible. Their withdrawal of funding for the London Youth Games, school sport fee increases and clsure of Drapers Field shows that Labour’s commitment is all words and no action.

Leyton and Liberal Democrat Group Leader councillor Bob Sullivan added:

Drapers Field will close for two years so the Olympic Delivery Authority can use the playing fields to do its laundry and catering. This will deprive local children and Norlington school of their current playing fields. Labour has consistently failed to set out any clear plans for the future of Drapers Field once the ODA leaves the site.

Labour councillors at London Councils (Waltham Forest representative Cllr Chris Robbins) earlier this week voted to cut funding for the London Youth Games by £130,000. This will lead to a loss of over half-a-million pounds [£650k] of match funding and raises questions about the future of the Games

Labour has proposed the following sports fee increases

A 12% increases in the cost of school football and school cricket
A 23% increase in the cost of casual Saturday pitch hire
A 25% increase in the cost of hiring Leyton County Cricket Ground
Increases of 33% in school sports day fees

Council loses £100,000 grant funding for Drapers Field

Lib Dem Leader Bob Sullivan’s probing questions have uncovered the fact that the council has missed out on £100,000 granted by the London Marathon Trust towards a beach sports facility at Drapers Field in Leyton.

The plan was scuppered by Labour’s decision to hand over the playing fields to the Olympic Delivery Authority to be used for storage during the 2012 games.

The money was intended to fund the creation of an urban beach sports venue for use by the local community. The best known beach sport isbeach volleyball (an Olympic sport which will take place atHorseguards Parade in central London in 2012). However many othersports have beach variants including rugby, football and cricket.

“Labour’s plan to hand over Drapers Field for use as a storage depot during the Olympics could scupper the vision of Drapers Field as a centre for high-quality sport. As an Olympic host borough the council should encourage people to take part in sport instead of turfing them off playing fields for financial reasons,” said Leyton councillor and Lib Dem group leader Bob Sullivan.

Drapers Field playing fields are used by Norlington School and by thousands of local residents. Cllr Sullivan has raised his concerns with Sport England, who he met two weeks ago.

Details of the grants awarded to Waltham Forest by the London Marathon Charitable Trust can be found at www.virginlondonmarathon.com/marathon-centre/london-marathon-charitable-trust/waltham-forest/. The grant for the creation of an urban beach sports venue in Drapers Field was the largest grant ever awarded by the charity to the borough.

Save Drapers Field campaign hits headlines

Leyton Liberal Democrats’ campaign to save Drapers Field from being tarmaced over has hit the headlines. The Evening Standard reports:

Park users, including the Norlington School for Boys and 23 clubs and teams, face upheaval as the council searches for alternative sites.

The chairman of governors at Norlington, whose previous pupils include former England cricket captain Graham Gooch and TV star Jonathan Ross, said the plans were “absolutely horrendous”. Stephen Pierpoint said: “It’s an amazing contradiction that in trying to promote sports they are preventing our pupils from playing sports.”

Leyton councillor Bob Sullivan, who leads the Lib-Dem group on Waltham Forest council, said he doubted the compensation would be satisfactory. He said: “It’s a disgrace. We’re supposed to be an Olympic borough. Norlington School for Boys uses the field four days a week and they are going to find it difficult to find somewhere else to go that is affordable.”

You can sign the petition to keep Drapers Field available for use as a sports field at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/DrapersField.

Lib Dem Leyton councillors call on Cabinet to listen to local people about Olympic improvements

Leyton’s Liberal Democrat councillors have urged the council to learn the lessons of previous improvement schemes when implementing the Leyton Links project [PDF report] which was discussed by Waltham Forest Council’s Cabinet last week.

Councillor Bob Sullivan, Councillor Naheed Qureshi and Councillor Winnie Smith have welcomed the investment in Leyton – which was agreed when the Liberal Democrats were part of the council’s administration – but are raising concerns about how effectively the money will be spent.

“We need a scheme that delivers permanent improvements for Leyton, and does not just temporarily tart-up the High Street for a few weeks during the Olympics,” said Leyton councillor Naheed Qureshi. “I am particularly concerned that the council is not providing any specific funding for maintenance.”

She urged the council to consult local people on the detailed proposals soon.

“The published timetable does not allow much time for local councillors, businesses and members of the public to have their say. It is essential that the money is spent on improvements that will make a difference to local people,” she said.

Councillor Bob Sullivan is pressing for improvement plans to include action on street clutter, such as illegal letting boards and neon signs which have been installed without proper consent. He said:

“We need sustained action to deal with illegal letting boards and other street clutter. I hope the Cabinet will not get so carried away with spending money on public art and feature lighting that they forget about the basics.”

The council has £4m (£2.25m from the London Development Agency and £1.75m from the Department of Communities and Local Government) to spend on High Road, Leyton and pedestrian and cycling links to the Olympic Park.

The proposed scheme involves improvements to materials, lighting, and street furniture in key locations along the southern part of High Road, Leyton. It focuses on the areas outside the Old Town Hall, outside Coronation Gardens and outside the Cricket Ground. The report says “Other aspects such as feature lighting, landscaping, wayfinding and public art are also being considered.”

The scheme also includes improvements to footway and cycling links into the Olympic Park. On-going maintenance costs “will be absorbed within the existing highway maintenance budget” according to the council.

Lib Dems sound alarm over loss of Drapers Field playing fields

Cathall Lib Dem team at Drapers Field

Lib Dem councillors and campaigners have expressed alarm at news that Labour councillors are negotiating to exclude local people from popular sports facility Draper’s Field during Olympic year – just a few months after pledging to protect Waltham Forest’s green spaces and leisure facilities.

The news has sparked anger among local Liberal Democrat campaigners, who say the all-weather pitch and playing fields are used by over 9,000 people every month.

Information obtained by Leyton councillor and Liberal Democrat Group Leader Bob Sullivan shows that Labour Council Leader Chris Robbins has actively negotiated to lease the playing fields to the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) for possible use as a VIP car park or other Olympic-related uses. As a result local children and football clubs will have nowhere to play in Olympic year while international elite athletes race for medals just a few hundred yards away.

Bob Sullivan said:

To allow Drapers Field to be given over to the ODA and turned into a car park would be a travesty for local clubs and schools. The Olympics should be used to encourage sport, not destroy it. Under Labour the council is in danger of missing a huge opportunity to gain Olympic benefits.

There are no other all-weather pitches in the immediate area. This could cause enormous disruption to users.

Councillor Sullivan has written to the ODA and the Council Leader demanding information about the negotiations and assurances that the interests of local sports clubs and residents will be protected.

Drapers Field consists of an all weather football pitch, playing fields and an Arts and Drama Centre. It is used extensively by local sports clubs, schools and residents. The estimated use of Drapers Field is 108,260 people per year excluding the use of the Arts and Drama Centre. The all-weather pitch has 1,380 users per week (71,760 per year).

Only last December Labour councillors voted for a Liberal Democrat motion which pledged to protect green open spaces and leisure facilities. The key text of the agreed motions reads:

This council

notes residents’ concern about threats to green spaces, playing fields and associated amenities such as sports facilities within our borough;
understands the vital importance of green spaces and playing fields as areas for recreation and sport in both informal and organised capacities;
recognises the importance of local playing fields for local schools;
believes that actively protecting our green spaces and strengthening sports facilities will be a key part of Waltham Forest’s Olympic legacy.

Lib Dems urge Labour to drop pool and Track threat / “There is no confusion” (pt 2!)

Liberal Democrat Leader Cllr John Macklin has told fellow Cabinet members that money is available to pay for a proposed Walthamstow Arcade redevelopment project – and urged Labour members to scrap plans that could see the sale of the Walthamstow Pool and Track facility.

Cllr Macklin, who was presenting an update on the Council’s capital spending programme as the cabinet member for Finance, told councillors that money to pay for redevelopment of the Arcade is already contained within Council expenditure plans.

Liberal Democrats previously voted against Labour cabinet members who forced through a report recommending the sale of “land at the Pool and Track site or alternative assets…that have not yet been identified”. This was a climbdown from an original draft of the report that explicitly cited “the Pool and Track site” for disposal.

In trying to defend the proposals, though, Labour Leader Chris Robbins apparently confirmed that at least part of the Pool and Track facility would eventually be closed. Labour cabinet member responsible for Sport, Geraldine Reardon, told councillors that there was “no confusion”.

Cllr Robbins again attempted to distance himself from the threat to the Pool and Track at the cabinet meeting, claiming that “there never was a link between the pool and the property on the Arcade.

However, the relevant report outlining the threat has now been cited by the Waltham Forest Guardian here.

Cllr Macklin believes that the report on Council expenditure will allow Labour members to drop their threat to the Pool and Track site.

The Lib Dem Leader said:

“The report confirms that money would already be in place to pay for any redevelopment of the Walthamstow Arcade site.

“In plain financial terms, it seems to make absolutely no sense to constantly be looking to sell Council land and property at the bottom of the market. First it was the plan to sell the former St James St library building and now the proposal to sell at least part of the Pool and Track.

“But on a practical level, we don’t believe that a leisure pool on the Arcade site will act as an appropriate replacement.

“From the continuing discussions we are having with those who use the facility, we have enormous concerns about what splitting up the Pool and Track facility would mean for the future of the borough’s only athletics track. We also don’t believe that the Arcade site has anywhere near enough accessibility or parking for the schools and competitors who travel to use the Pool and Track.

“The Liberal Democrats believe that the Pool and Track facility in Walthamstow needs investment, not demolition.”

Labour say of Pool and track threat: “There is no confusion”

Labour Report No 1:

Pool and Track site to be sold to fund leisure centre at Arcade site.

Labour Report No 2 (Just days later…)

Now land at Pool and Track or other “unidentified assets” to be sold

Labour Leader says:

Pool will be closed but not track

Labour councillor responsible for sport says:

We never suggested the track would close

…and that:

“There is no confusion”.

* * * * *

Users of local sports facilities have been left anxious about the future of the Pool and Track in Walthamstow after Labour Leader Chris Robbins appeared to confirm that at least part of the facility will be shut down.

Liberal Democrat councillors are fighting Labour plans to rescue the Arcade site development by borrowing millions of pounds and selling off land and council assets.

Labour’s proposals — which were published on the Council website – involved the “disposal of the Pool and Track site for a replacement facility with the Arcade development”, including a Leisure Centre “to replace the current indoor facilities at the Pool and Track”.

However after protests from Liberal Democrat councillors and residents, definitive references to the sale of the Pool and Track were quickly removed from the final Cabinet report, with mention only being made of the sale of “either land at the Pool and Track site or alternative assets to the same value that have not yet been identified”. Labour councillors forced through the report despite Liberal Democrat opposition in the Cabinet meeting.

Hopes for the future of the Pool and Track seem, however, to have been dashed after comments from Labour Leader Chris Robbins suggested that at least part of the facility will still be closed.

In trying to quell public protests at the handling of the closure, Cllr Robbins confirmed to the local press that the pool will be closed once a “replacement” leisure facility has been built. This would seem to leave the borough’s athletics track as a stand-alone facility.

Lib Dem Cllr Bob Carey, a member of the affected Chapel End ward, has now raised the issue with Cllr Geraldine Reardon, the Labour councillor responsible for sport in the borough, at a Full Council meeting. He sought clarification over the future of the pool facility, investment in the track and raised resident concerns about accessibility to a pool facility at the Arcade.

Cllr Reardon told councillors that there was “no confusion” over the future of the facility, but refused to confirm the Labour leader’s comment that the pool would be closed once a replacement was built, claiming that no decision had been made.

Local Liberal Democrat councillors will continue to seek answers over Labour’s handling of our Pool and Track.

Lib Dems want Olympic transport benefits

Local Liberal Democrat councillor and parliamentary candidate Farooq Qureshi has met with representatives from Transport for London (TFL) to discuss how they are working with the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) were working together to secure transport improvements for the area in the build up to the 2012 Olympic games

A number of issues regarding transport infrastructure were discussed, with the Lib Dems Leyton and Wanstead parliamentary hopeful positive about the meeting and the awareness from TFL of customer concerns.

The Hall Farm Curve rail link, historically at the top of the local transport agenda, was discussed. Despite confirmation that the restoration of the service was not part of immediate plans, TFL representatives said that, as a service partner for the Olympics, it would be prepared to work with the ODA if the 2012 body wanted to investigate the Hall Farm Curve as part of the Olympic infrastructure.

Other issues discussed included:

· Easing ‘exit’ congestion at Leyton and Leytonstone underground stations by opening up additional exits in peak periods.

· The need for better and more frequent bus routes for both Leyton and Leytonstone High Roads, including improved connections with the rest of the borough and improved services to and from Stratford.

· Improved accessibility for disabled passengers at Leyton Tube Station.

· The refurbishment of Leyton Midland and Leytonstone High road stations on the Barking and Gospel Oak lines, including lightning, platform information systems.

After the meeting, Cllr Qureshi said:

“I am very pleased that TFL were prepared to listen to residents concerns about our local transport infrastructure and what benefits 2012 could provide for local public transport links.

“Good and easily accessible public transport is vital for a sustainable economy in Leyton and Wanstead. It plays an enormous part in efforts to bring much needed economic prosperity to our area.”

Regular meetings between TFL and ODA will include ward councillors and special interest groups so that they can have an input into priority transport improvements in the area.

What now for our local sports facilities?

The local press are reporting resident reaction to Liberal Democrat opposition to Labour plans that cast doubt over the future of the Walthamstow Pool and athletics track. Click here to see the full coverage!

The plans being pushed through by Labour councillors will see millions of pounds borrowed to fund a leisure pool on the Arcade site in Walthamstow. £10 million will be raised through the sale of land at the Pool and Track site or another site that has not been named.

Local users of sports facilities are already voicing their own opposition to the proposals.

Your local Lib Dems want to know:
· What do the plans mean for the future of our competition pool and the borough’s only athletics track in the run-up to the Olympics?
· Why do Labour refuse to allow a full financial check of the plans to borrow millions of pounds to fund their plan?
· Why haven’t local people been asked whether they want a leisure pool at the Arcade site?

Explaining the opposition to Labour’s plans, local Liberal Democrat leader John Macklin said:

“These latest plans will have a serious impact right across the area, affecting the future of our sports facilities and maybe even the planning application for the former EMD cinema.

“Creating such uncertainty for local sports users is completely unacceptable for an Olympic borough”.

Concerns as controversial Arcade site plans pushed through

Liberal Democrat councillors have voted against controversial plans that local sports groups fear could spell the beginning of the end for the Pool and Track facility in Walthamstow.

And despite reccomendations from the Council’s own Scrutiny committee that the plans should be delayed whilst a financial appraisal of the proposals be carried out, Labour councillors voted to ignore the reccomendations and approve the Cabinet Report.

Local Lib Dem Leader Cllr John Macklin led the opposition at the meeting, calling the proposals “an inappropriate report brought forward at an inappropriate time”.

The report voted through by Labour councillors last night outlines plans to fund part of a proposed leisure pool on the Arcade site through the “disposal of either land at the Pool and Track site or alternative assets to the same value that have not yet been identified”. The sentence replaced an earlier proposal, which was removed, which clearly reccomended that the planned pool at the Arcade would replace the indoor facilities at the Pool and Track. The lack of clarity over the future of the track is compounded by the fact that proposals for its surrounding land – behind the Town Hall – are not due to be presented until early next year.

User groups of the Pool and Track – who were present at the meeting – joined the Liberal Democrats in expressing concern about the future of the facility.

Click here to read the Waltham Forest Guardian’s report on the controversy at the Cabinet meeting.

Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats

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