Spring/summer 2009
Lewisham Council is planning to develop a new swimming pool to replace Forest Hill Pools, which closed in 2006 for health and safety reasons.
Plans to redevelop the existing site had to be postponed last August when Louise House, a Victorian building next to the existing pools, received a Grade II listing by English Heritage. The listing means that the previous options to build a new leisure centre on the current site are no longer possible.
There are two options left:
Option 1: Postpone the project until 2012
This might allow for further funding to be found in future for a new leisure centre on the existing pools' site. The earliest possible estimated completion date for the leisure centre in this option would be late 2015.
See Allies and Morrison Architects feasibility study
Option 2: Proceed now and build a new leisure centre on Willow Way
Willow Way is an alternative site that is approximately 400 metres from the current site. This option would be partly funded by developing the land on the current pools site for housing. The earliest estimated completion date for the new leisure centre in this option would be late 2011.
See Pollard Thomas Edwards Architects feasibility study
The cost of building a new leisure centre is similar for both sites.
The second option is affordable now because the proceeds from a housing development on the current pools site could help to pay for a new leisure centre on Willow Way.
A housing development on Willow Way is not possible under Lewisham's planning policies.