Ilford South Labour Party

Labour Party members were out campaigning in Mayfield ward on Sunday. The hot topic currently is the closure of the High Road swimming pools (see item below). But your Labour Councillor for Mayfield, Ayodhiya Parkash, also continues to work hard to achieve improvements in South Park. This beautiful park has been neglected for years by the Conservative run council, despite Mark Aaron, Tory Councillor for the area, being the cabinet member responsible for the environment.

Cllr Aaron has also played a key role in ruining plans for a new swimming pool. He got them scrapped in favour of a grandiose scheme which the council could never afford. In a desperate bid to raise the money he fought to have the allotment sites at Goodmayes Lane, sold to developers. Some advocate for the local environment!

Click on this link (Mayfield Newsletter, Autumn 2008) to read in full the latest newsletter covering these issues. It contains details of how you can contact Cllr Parkash or get involved in the Park User Group which some local resident are hoping to set up.

Labour Government provides funds for free swimming for children & older people but Tory council closes our pools

Many Labour Party members yesterday joined other members of the public on a march from the offices of the Ilford Recorder to the Town Centre. They were there to protest at the sudden closure of the High Road Swimming Pools, one of only two public baths in the borough.

The building had been condemned by structural engineers and had to close on grounds of safety. But the Tory administration in Redbridge has known there have been grave concerns regarding the building for many years. They have failed to fund necessary maintenance over many years. Plans to provide new facilities in Ilford became bogged down in factional in-fighting amongst the Conservatives. Some Tory councillors promised grandiose schemes, which couldn’t be funded, in a bid to win prestige and leadership in the Conservative group. This simply stopped more practical schemes going ahead and has resulted in the loss of huge financial support from the government for a new pool.

As a result of this shambles swimmers in Ilford and the south of the borough now have to travel to an overcrowded pool at Fulwell Cross, or out of the borough altogether. Swimming clubs and groups which used the High Road pools will not easily be accommodated, nor will those who were receiving swimming lessons.

All this comes at a time when our Labour government is providing funds to enable local councils to provide free swimming for those under the age of 16 or over 6o. But while children & older people in neighbouring boroughs benefit, there is nowhere to go for swimmers in Ilford.

Mike Gapes MP, Labour councillors & party members at the rally