DJKillaQueen

He mentions St.Apostle's use of the Park for example...but it's not a like for like comparison. St.Apostle has it's own facilities (including swimming pool) so it's usage of PR is not a primary one. Harris has no outdoor facilities so I think James's view is that if one school can use the Park for some of it's sports, then why can't Harris?...only PR in it's current state wouldn't be able to accomodate the outdoor sports of an entire school (and nor should it be expected to - it's not a sports ground, it's a park) and so 'first mates' question is valid. I'd be interested to know if Harris school pays for use of the pitches at Southbank.

He is a politician, so it's a bit different. I don't represent people and make decisions on how to spend tax payers money. He on the other hand has a public duty to answer to certain questions and make his views known.

I've had plenty of disussions with him in the 'drawing room'......he tends to pick and choose which points he replies to.

James I'm afraid, is very good at dodging straight questions - comes with being a politician.

There is only one dedicated sports field in the park itself (the one that has been reseeded). At present there are also two junior pitches painted on the east side common which seem to be used at weekends for junior matches (I'm guessing because the other field is seeding). So I can't see any room for expansion unless the suggestion is to turn all the grassland areas of the park itself into sports pitches (most of which is unsuitable anyway because of sloping). Good sports pitches require flat well drained land with dedicated grounds people maintaining and repairing them. It's an entirely different thing to a public park where people play sport occasionally for fun. And there is a shortage of dedicated sports grounds in Southwark anyway, whilst there also being other larger areas of land (like Burgess Park) that could accomodate sports facilities without impacting too much on the existing park.

The school itself is fine and James is correct in that it was badly needed. I just question the wisdom of a sports academy with no grounds of it's own. It is absolutely right to for the public to argue that the areas of the park that are park stay as such instead of being converted into one big sports ground (which almost half the land already is). Anyway there is abslutely nothing wrong with school children being bussed to pupose built sports grounds, and as that has always been the agreement from the Academy there's nothing really to fuss about I think.

We all want kids to be more active. Hating this school and insisting all sports are undertaken a bus journey away seems rather sad. Well maybe if existing schools hadn't sold off their playing fields for development and new schools weren't built without adaquate grounds (which you would think would be a necessity for a Sports Academy) there wouldn't be the need for this debate. All of these issues were discussed in the planning stages and the solutions were agreed. Those solutions did not include Rye Park...so too late to start arguing the opposite James, esp. as it was your Lib Dem led council that sanctioned the building of a sports academy with no grounds for sport in the first place.

They did better than I thought they would and should make it through to next week.

You are entitled to your opinion but you clearly haven't understood a thing about 'lack of facilities' and maintenance costs.....and the park is OWNED by Southwark Council who allow the public to use it but could just as easily fence it off and keep us all out. They set the rules not us - do you COMPRI?

Hmm so you are a 'Diva Fever' kind of guy then Quids?

well aeeing as we are on a tredn here.... For me! 1 TreyC 2 Aiden 3 Mary Byrne 4 Cher Bottom 4 1. Niccolo 2. Wagner 3. Storm 4. FYD Biggest disappointment - Rebecca (completely the wrong song choice)/ Pleasant suprise - One Direction (will only get better)

Yep that would be the one HAL.......we are all doomed I tell ya!

Phew! Rock n'roll. That's some Saturday night you're having there. PMSL.

lol...I actually thought she did quite well. Young people will love her. Even the annoying Katie W. sounded alright too. TreyC and Aiden though.....performances of the night and once the obvious fluff has been given the boot it might shape up to be a good competition.

Am about to buy One bottle of coke cola Four tins of catfood And maybe a chocolate bar....

I hear we a huge meteor is bound to hit us at some point!

oooh...no let's not have Alan Dale as the last word lol.........

Pink boxers? lol.

If there are millions in poverty who need support then give it to them. Just don't call it child benefit, and don't give it to people for whom the biggest family challenge this year will be Tuscany or the Dordogne. Finally we agree and all ends well. :)-D

Oh it's logical alright. If buyers dry up the market self regulates...but in 25 years the moment buyers dried up the mortgage industry just came up with a new way to sell mortgages (culminating in the ludicrous self certified mortgages). You know my views on buy to let for example. It can't go on and that's why the FSA are looking into ending various types of mortgage such as the capital free interest only mortgages that btl investers mostly used. In other words, ending the practise that made it simple for those who either had no investment nor could probably afford a mortgage, to get one. The same kind of sub-prime lending that has partly landed us in the mess we currently are in. The EMF again this week warned that UK house prices are over inflated. Are you going to acuse them of being some part of a conspiracy as well? Do I need to go on? You seem niaively oblivious to the part all this plays.

Yes the points on the developing countries is an important one and absolutely right that China is propping up the dollar. I don't things are as bleak. I think we can reinvent ourselves in the West. For example what we should be doing is manufacturing high quality high value items. We manufacture JCB diggers for example but with parts made in Spain. Why can't we make the parts? We still have steel foundries. I just think we need to let go of some things and accept we have to reinvent. Historically in Britian we've been bad at that though...slow to change anything and that is our greatest hindrance. We do have talent here, great Universities, great hopsitals, researchers......we just need to shift our enphasis and invest in the things we do well and then hopefully be able to sell that to the rest of the world more than we are doing at present.

No conspiracy...goalposts changed to keep ready supply of buyers and therefore pushes prices continually up out performing other sectors (including pensions) subject to more normal stresses of market forces. Do you want me to list the deregulations one by one and their impact? The various warnings given to government and then ignored and the now ludicrous position we have were people part buy part rent...... You can ignore it all you like H but those are the facts and you know what? Plenty of far more intelligent and knowledgable people than you and I agree with that. Why else did government have to dictate to banks to ease off on repossessions? The housing market needs regulating before we all end up on HB or homeless, because most of us don't earn enough.

The park has rules set by Southwark Council, not me, because they spend money maintaining it. As someone that uses the park I abide by those rules.....as do the most people that enjoy use of it. I personally have no porblem with the school hiring pitches etc during the week for field events...they'd be paying for it. But I can totally understand why the nice areas of grass in the park should not be used by the school. They are not sports ground. Anyway it seems to be the consensus by those who were involved in original discussions with the school that there are not adequate facilities in the park to accomodate it. Again nothing to do with my view....is what it is.

frankly we have no choice or start gain which means reinventing our economic and social models based on far less wealth/income for us all But where was the income/ wealth for us all? Virtually little growth in public sector jobs in 20 years! A third of the population need benefit and for the middle-classes, the only investment has been housing and they are squeezed by that too. Housing being an artificially inflated market managed and massaged by who again? Of course there was real wealth generated for the economy but it's a red herring to think it is the only way to do things. Meanwhile manufacturing shrunk to an all time low of 9% of our economy and areas of high unemployement in the North saw no regeneration anytime soon. We rely too much on the financial services sector and that in part is why we are so afraid to tinker with it. We have nothing else in this country...and that squarely is the fault of sucessive governments who in my opinion have been lazy, and failed to invest in people, skills, training and enterprise.

And a good deal of them were children of working parents too.