east-of-the-Rye

2 Police people outside a house on Ivydale Road (there at 3.45pm, and 8pm)one with a large gun - the rumour is, Jacqui Smith has moved in - any one heard anything?

I had a response from the Planning Department to my objection to the swimming pool being demolished. The officers are recommending approval of the whole proposal (I think - there were quite a few pages!) although the decision is made at a Planning Committee on 15/4/08, 7pm Southwark Town Hall. One of the parties consulted was Sport England who said "... the existing swimming pool is an old building with poor insulation and lacking changing rooms. It has not been used for a number of years. Although the loss of a sports facility is regrettable, this pool is in poor condition and the school's needs for swimming are met by Dulwich swimming pool" So that's alright then. Actually, I think this is a wider problem that just East Dulwich - apparently, academies can get money for rebuilding but not swimming pools, and Stockwell Park School is in the news due to plans to rebuild, but without the exisitng pool.

There is a swimming pool at this school,(Homestall Road SE22) which is, amongst other things, a sports academy. I don't know if it's still used - my son used to go there for swimming lessons when at Ivydale School a few years ago (and complained about the green slime on the walls) I've just noticed a Planning Application for the school to do various things including demolish this pool. I've checked and they don't intend to replace it with a pool. This seems crazy for a sports academy in a city due to host the Olympics in 2012. In addition, Dulwich Baths in due to close for renovation, which will affect not only casual swimmers but also the many primary and secondary schools that have their lessons there. I accept that the HGAED pool may need a lot of work carrying out, but this must be cheaper than building a new one. Is anyone out there doing anything about this? Does the boys school campaign know about it? http://planningonline.southwarksites.com/planningonline2/AcolNetCGI.exe?ACTION=UNWRAP&RIPSESSION=%7B%5B%2A%211D1A020B050304731D3C3D31617C041E28360020373B2D3A033A2131681B1102001216030D02040A06016F691120283F3A3606243629243A06176F767176787E777660017662122B3C203B2A2A0705737E63677D707B76767B67%21%2A%5D%7D