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| Labour wades into baths row |
LABOUR Party members have launched a stinging attack on a Lib
Dem pledge to save Kentish Town baths, despite their own pleas that
the issue should remain non-political.
The bubbling tension surrounding the pool exploded into open warfare
between the two camps on Monday when Labour candidates standing
in next year’s council elections broke their silence.
Copies of the party’s Labour Rose newsletter distributed in
Haverstock ward claim that the Lib Dems are making an “extravagant”
promise to save the baths and that voting for them would lead to
an inevitable council tax hike.
The 100-year-old pool in Prince of Wales Road is in desperate need
of refurbishment but Town Hall officials have warned that the cost
would be at least £17 million.
Leisure chiefs are considering building a pool elsewhere in Kentish
Town, with the main option being a site at Talacre Sports Centre
in Dalby Road.
Only two weeks ago, former Labour leader Councillor Dame Jane Roberts
told a public meeting that the issue had been hijacked by opposition
parties.
Labour’s deputy Town Hall leader Councillor Phil Turner turned
down the chance to speak at the meeting, telling reporters that
he feared the event would turn into political point-scoring.
But Labour’s own candidates this week said the Lib Dems’
stance would mean spending about £30 million on rescuing the
crumbling pool. Labour campaigner Syed Hoque said: “The Lib
Dems have been strangely silent about how they would pay for their
extravagant promises.
“Labour on the other hand are determined to strike the right
balance between having first-class swimming pools and getting value
for money for council tax payers.”
Lib Dems believe the Labour council is trying to dampen mounting
public concern over the pool in the run-up to next year’s elections.
Liberal Democrat councillor Jill Fraser said: “It is a political
issue because the council is delaying the decision on the baths
because they don’t want to say the pool could close before
the election.
“Syed Hoque says the Liberal Democrats would spend lots of
money to keep it open and that tax would go up. Tax needn’t
go up to save the baths. The council has lots of money in the bank
that it could use to refurbish the baths.” |
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