Labour To Demolish Oaklands

Labour have set aside HALF A MILLION pounds in the city council budget to demolish the Oaklands site.

Local Conservatives warned that Labour planned to demolish the site and have been calling for the swimming pool to be reopened and for the former school to be made into an asset for the local community - as a community centre and for other uses like space for a nursery or even small businesses.

There has been no consultation about this and it is again another betrayal of the local area by Labour. Labour said that they wouldn't reopen the swimming pool because it would cost too much for repairs and here we have them planning to spend half a million pounds demolishing Oaklands! It is a perfectly good building and local people have been crying out for a permanent community centre for years. I want to know what our local councillors are going to do about this.

Labour Need To Be Clear Over the Future Of Oaklands

What a complete mess Labour are in over the issue of Oaklands Pool. Broken promises, deceit and incompetence are fast becoming hallmarks of the new council Administration.

One of Labour's first actions on taking control of the council was to announce the closure of Oaklands, despite their election pledge just a few weeks before, promising to protect it. 

Since then we have had total confusion over the future of the site. On one hand we had Labour saying the long term maintenance costs of the pool were too expensive, then we had a statement several months later from council Leader Richard Williams saying he might commit to repair costs. We had Labour on one hand saying that they would not pay the ongoing running costs, then them spending even more money this year keeping it closed, because of the ongoing costs of wages, building costs and lost income from visitors. We have had Labour on one hand saying that they would welcome a private company or charity taking on the pool but on the other hand had them saying that they planned to demolish the whole site within 2 years to make way for a new Sainsbury's. Now Sainsbury's have announced that they won't be proceeding with plans for a new store anyway.

Labour's policy is in total chaos. The pool should have stayed open and the pipe work repairs that were being carried out by the previous Administration should never have been stopped. If Labour won't allow Oaklands to remain a council pool and if they are serious about finding an alternative operator they need to be proactive and clearly spell out whether or not they will commit the council to ongoing repairs and how long any deal with a swimming pool operator will last. Labour also need to be clear about the future of the former Oaklands School building. Months ago the Conservatives called for the building to be used for community use and for other options like business use or nursery provision to be considered, but Labour voted our proposals down.