Following the successful Lib Dem campaign to open up the former Arcade, permission has been given to have an outdoor ice rink on the site this Winter.

Cllr Johar Khan said: “When I heard this decision I thought what a great temporary addition to the High Street which will provide a fabulous leisure activity for all and hopefully draw visitors from far and wide to the town.”

“However, what a disappointment it was to see the dismally small ice rink Labour had plonked in the middle of this site. Far from being a Labour ‘exciting and ambitious plan’ it has made Waltham Forest a laughing stock.”

Labour councillors have forced through a proposal to build a swimming pool and leisure centre on the Arcade site by borrowing £35 million and selling off the Pool and Track site in Walthamstow.

Labour councillors ignored the recommendation from the all party Scrutiny committee which said that, before any decisions were made, the Council should obtain a financial appraisal to see if the proposal was affordable and a study as to whether the High Street was the right place for a swimming pool.

Lib Dem Cllr Johar Khan said:

“I’m amazed that anyone could make a decision costing residents millions without any financial appraisal. I totally agree with my Lib Dem colleague and chair of the committee, Cllr Bob Sullivan,  that anyone doing this is “Damn reckless” with ratepayers’ money.”

High Street Focus Team says:

· Why does Labour refuse to allow a proper financial check of the plans to borrow £35 million to fund the proposal?

· Why haven’t local people been asked whether they want a pool on the Arcade site?

· What does this plan mean for the future of our competition pool and the Borough’s only athletic track in the run-up to the Olympics?

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK

Following the successful Lib Dem campaign to open up the former Arcade, plans have been submitted to have an outdoor ice rink on the site this Winter.

If approved Waltham Forest will join the likes of Royal Windsor, the Tower of London and Kew Gardens in providing residents and visitors the opportunity to trip the ice fantastic with their friends and family.

High Street Lib Dem Councillor, Johar Khan said: “I’m delighted that our amendment to a Council motion last year has resulted in exciting events, such as the ice rink, coming to the Borough.

“This will be a great temporary addition to the High Street which will provide a fabulous leisure activity for for all and hopefully draw visitors from far and wide to the town.” 

Your local Liberal Democrats are opposing Labour plans that cast doubt over the future of the Walthamstow Pool and athletics track.  

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, Liberal Democrat FOCUS team member Cllr Johar Khan 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”.

Local Liberal Democrats have confirmed their opposition to plans to close the Pool and Track in order to fund the long-awaited Arcade development before a consultation on the area has been completed.

A new report, which will go to Cabinet tomorrow night (15th September), asks senior councillors to agree to authorise officers to find a developer for a “mixed use scheme” on the vacant Arcade site, using £10million from the disposal of the Pool and Track, plus an option of Council borrowing, for a replacement facility on the site at the top of Walthamstow High Street.

In March this year Liberal Democrat cabinet members voted against an earlier report laying the groundwork for the plan, with Cllr Macklin telling a cabinet meeting that the Council had “a history of knocking things down and leaving them derelict and I am worried about swapping one piece of derelict land in Walthamstow for another near the town hall”.

Outlining his concerns, Cllr Macklin claimed that the report would have serious knock-on effects both for the future of the Pool and Track facility and the planning application recently submitted for development of the former EMD cinema. Cllr Macklin added that, despite last-ditch efforts within the Town Hall to urge Labour cabinet members to postpone the plans, the report will go forward.

Cllr Macklin said:

“I just cannot see the logic in bringing these proposals forward at this time.

“The report regarding the future of the Pool and Track site has not even been completed and an outstanding planning application for the former EMD is yet to be heard. The approval we are being asked to give in this report will obviously have massive implications for both these developments.”

Click here to read Cllr Macklin’s article in full.

JOIN US AT CABINET TOMORROW NIGHT TO TELL LABOUR WE WANT TO KEEP

POOL & TRACK.

New council leader, Chris Robbins, has described the empty Arcade site as “a disgrace” and said “It has been unacceptable that for the past number of years the site has been empty.” in a Guardian article. Click here for full article. 

For the last eight years Cllr Robbins has obediently voted in Cabinet for Labour’s controversial proposals for the site, ignoring the Lib Dems calls for the site to be given temporary usage. Cllr Robbins’ comments are a huge slap in the face to all Labour councillors who have been involved in this site including the former council leader, Clyde Loakes, and the current Portfolio holder for Enterprise and Investment, Cllr Terry Wheeler - who criticised the Lib Dems suggestions for the site just before his colleague Cllr Robbins agreed to follow our lead!  

Liberal Democrat Parlimentary Candidate for Walthamstow, Farid Ahmed, said: “If Cllr Robbins thinks the Arcade site being empty for the last eight years is such a disgrace, why has he kept the man responsible for this shambles - Cllr Wheeler - in his cabinet?”

“Liberal Democrats - including party leader Nick Clegg - have long said that this site should be given temporary use whilst residents continue to wait for Cllr Wheeler to clear up this mess. My two High Street colleagues, Cllrs James O’Rourke and Johar Khan, just recently amended a council motion to try and get the portfolio holder to let the site be temporarily used” he added.

***UPDATE***

The Waltham Forest Guardian has had its say on Labour’s handling of the Arcade fiasco claiming in their editorial that “…the unforgivable indecisiveness of his (Cllr Robbins’) Labour colleagues (has) let the Arcade embarassment develop into something approaching humiliation…”.

See this weeks Waltham Forest Guardian for more comment on the Arcade debacle.

Waltham Forest Liberal Democrats have succeeded in pressurising Labour to clear and level the former arcade site in preparation to open up part of the land to the public for future temporary use. Work will begin on 1st June.

The announcement was made in an email to High Street Lib Dem councillors from the new Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Robbins.

Last December Cllrs James O’Rourke and Johar Khan succeeded in amending a Council motion to examine useful ways in which the Arcade site land can be utilised in the short-term before the period of redevelopment begins.

Cllrs O’Rourke and Khan said:

“Yet again it’s Liberal Democrat Councillors who are leading the way. The motion we successfully amended has clearly been the catalyst for this Labour U-turn. This is what our community has asked of us.”

“We have been informed that decisions have not yet been taken on temporary uses. Tell us what you think the land could be used for.”

Liberal Democrats have been proved right to vote against the latest ill conceived Labour proposal for the Arcade site following confirmation that the contract will have to be put out to tender again to satisfy European regulations.

For 8 years Labour has dithered between a Library, retail and residential buildings, a cinema, a cinema and hotel and now a cinema, hotel and swimming pool. We currently have a derelict boarded up site which now needs Council taxpayers to borrow £35 to £40 million to build, without any consultation, no financial appraisal and no feasibility study to show if the plans are viable. Even St Modwen, the council’s developer, has pulled out from funding it.

Lib Dem Cllrs James O’Rourke and Johar Khan said: “The last 8 years has seen Labours regeneration plans in chaos and nothing more to show than a hole in the ground. In a recession we need to be realistic about what can be achieved. At the end of last year our Council motion to examine useful ways in which the Arcade site land can be utilised in the short-term was unanimously agreed. This is what our community has asked of us. Some use is better than no use at all.”