Clapham Pool - Regeneration Scheme in Crisis

5.50.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 19th Aug 2008

Council office block Mary Seacole House is still empty thanks to Labour's dithering

A risky regeneration project in Clapham is teetering on the brink of financial collapse which could delay improvements and leave Clapham Pool closed for years. And falling house-prices in the area may scupper the scheme completely.

Clapham Library - uncertain future

Labour Councillors in Lambeth dithered over Clapham's regeneration scheme for two years. But since they signed the deal earlier this year, the developer has come back wanting more money. It means that the ageing Clapham Pool will have to continue staying open and that any redevelopment will close the pool for even longer into the future.

Clapham Pool - could be closed in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics

If a solution to the financial problems affecting the scheme cannot be found the whole deal will fall through.

And all the time that Labour dither and delay hard pressed council tax payers are forking out thousands of pounds to keep a redundant council office block empty.

Mary Seacole House on Clapham High Street has laid empty for an extra two years, and with security, electricity and business rates to pay for it has totalled sum £730,000. Labour had planned flats, offices and a library on the site but it has been left as an eye-sore next to trendy bars and apartments in fashionable Clapham.

"Labour Councillors dithered over regeneration plans," said Lib Dem Councillor Ashley Lumsden, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on Lambeth Council. "The delay has meant that the credit crunch has hit the project before it has even got underway."

In other schemes in Lambeth developers have had to take steps to deal with the credit crunch and falling house-prices. Elsewhere in Clapham a developer had to put extra storeys on a tower block. And developments in the north of the Borough have been approved without the proper levels of much-needed affordable housing. One developer even persuaded the council to accept lower contributions for library facilities. But the council refuses to say what options are being considered in this case, claiming "commercial confidentiality".

"Panic measures by the council to try and save this scheme are a real worry," said Cllr Lumsden. "Labour Councillors must come clean and tell local residents and pool-users exactly what options are being considered."

"Labour councillors have got us into this mess thanks to their dithering and choice of a complex multi-site project. But secret Town Hall deals to save a developers profits are unacceptable."

"What's worse is that young people in Clapham may have no swimming pool in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics."