The ponds are not just a ‘swimming facility’
Thursday, 20th February 2020
‘Compulsory charging will undoubtedly wreck the ambiance of the ponds and embitter users’
• THE City of London is again proposing to raise charges to swimmers in the ponds, this time making them compulsory, (Heath managers: You will have to splash out to swim in ponds, January 14).
There is no logic in this because swimmers use the ponds in the same way that walkers use the Heath, for fresh air, for peace and tranquillity and to restore the spirit and the corpus.
To maintain the Heath for both these groups costs money. I simply do not understand why swimmers must pay and walkers (some of whom make a living from dog walking and personal training) do not.
The Heath is world famous and by its very existence provides excellent public relations opportunities for the city. Compulsory charging will undoubtedly wreck the ambiance of the ponds and embitter users.
Why not abandon swimming charges totally and plan for free access to the ponds? A wise Lord Mayor of London might take the cost of running the ponds out of their publicity budget and fund swimming indefinitely.
Our respected lifeguards cost nowhere near the huge expense of the maintenance staff required to service Heath users, such as those who remove dog faeces, the Heath police, keepers, arboriculturists, groundspersons, clerks, managers and supervisors and more.
Why does the corporation have such a monster mental bloc about swimmers? Paying for a swim, like donating towards upkeep of the Heath, should be voluntary, in keeping with the spirit of 1871 Heath act.
City staff have been instructed that all our beloved swimming ponds should each be designated a “swimming facility”. Such a banal description paints a different picture from the reality.
The word facility is anathema to all of us; the ponds are a place of contemplation and peace, of restoration and friendship. Which is why so many people go there for just those reasons.
MARY CANE
Former Mayor of Camden
