A PACKED meeting to discuss the closure of the swimming ponds on Hampstead Heath was condemned as a “sham” after more than 150 people were turned away.
The Corporation of London, which manages the Heath and called the meeting, claimed the number turned away was nearer 50 and said it would not be holding another meeting.
“What is clear is that this is an exercise in pro forma futility and that Catherine McGuinness, chairwoman of the open spaces committee, and her colleagues are firmly set in closing the ponds to swimming,” said Hampstead resident Colin Franey in a letter to this paper. He added: “It was with dismay that we witnessed the sham non-consultation.”
Heath bosses have been under fire for calling the meeting at Hampstead Old Town Hall, which can only accommodate 250 people, despite the level of interest in the issue which has seen comments come in from as far away as America and Canada.
Another protester, Barry Fox, wrote: “The first consultative meeting filled a huge school hall, so what did Ms McGuinness do for the second meeting? She booked the smaller Hamsptead Town Hall which had overflowed long before the meeting was due to start.”
Protesters were also critical that an overflow room with sound link up had not been provided.
Heath bosses are calling on Mayor Ken Livingstone to make up the shortfall in the Heath budget to save the historic ponds from possible closure.
A spokesman for the Corporation of London, guardians of the 900-acre Heath said that an extra £100,000 a year from the Greater London Authority (GLA) could avert the cash crisis faced by bosses – who are currently considering closing one or all of the Men’s, Ladies or Mixed Ponds to save money.
But swimmers’ groups quickly condemned the move saying that the problem wasn’t a lack of money – but poor management by Heath bosses of existing funds.
Peter Cuming, ex-chair of the United Swimmers Association, said: “As a GLA taxpayer I would strongly oppose it – it would be putting money into a bottomless pit. ”
Yesterday, (Wednesday), Mayor Livingstone repeated his offer – dismissed by the Corporation – to take over the running of the Heath, saying that the Corporation “needed to decide whether it is capable of continuing to manage Hampstead Heath and its facilities” – including providing free swimming in the ponds.
He said: “If it is unable to do so then my offer to take over their running and management of the Heath still stands and the Corporation owes it to Londoners to take me up on it.”
Heath bosses say that they are continuing to explore all options but cannot make a final decision on the future of the ponds until a management committee meeting on February 21. Privately insiders say that the mood of the Corporation has changed and that bosses are desperate to find a compromise solution that would enable them to keep the ponds open – but without being seen to back down.
At Monday’s fiery public meeting Catherine McGuinness, chairwoman of the Heath Management Committee, repeated the Corporation’s assertion that the “generous” annual grant they received was not enough and “fair and balanced savings” had to be made.
But speaker after speaker condemned the proposals, with all the main swimmers’ groups saying their members were united against both closure of the ponds and possible charges.
Jane Shallice said: “We are calling for you to honour the spirit in which you took over the management of the heath when you promised to maintain it.”
One speaker said that the Heath could take care of itself and suggested that bosses should give all workers the day off as an experiment.
Another cited the history of civil disobedience had given the Heath to Londoners while others criticised the “nanny state” culture perpetrated by bosses – emphasised by Ms McGuinness when she referred to swimming as a “dangerous activity” that needed to be regulated.
One man, referring to Mayor Livingstone’s offer to take over the Heath, said: “Ken may or may not be trustworthy but at least he was elected.”
Others pointed out that swimming in the ponds was not a “facility” that could be charged but a natural activity like walking.
A city director who said that he had looked at the accounts since 1998 said that there had been a considerable “overshoot” since the current management structure.
He added: “Budget issues have nearly always been addressed by cutting management rather than operations.”
Swimmer Anita Miller accused the corporation of “trying to turn the Heath into a park” while Harry Ayres, a journalist from Hampstead quoted the 1871 Hampstead Heath Act, saying that the ponds should remain “open, unenclosed and free”.
Clare Doyle, a member of the Serpentine, said she was a fervent believer in the right to swim in cold water and added: “I cannot understand why we are being asked to help raise funds when the Corporation of London has pots of money.”
George Stern, from Shepherd’s Hill, who had been instrumental in averting the closure of Highgate Library in previous years, called for Heath management to resign en masse. He advised swimmers to “go to every meeting and to scream them down – it works”.
After the meeting, a spokesperson for the Corporation defended the decision to hold the meeting in the Town Hall, saying that it was the largest venue they could find and an audio-visual link to the proceedings for the public outside would have been too expensive.
The Corporation will make a final decision in February.