A ROW has erupted after council leader Chris Robbins was accused of trying to force through plans to sell off Waltham Forest Pool & Track and procure a developer for the Arcade site sooner than expected.
A report to be discussed by cabinet a week on Tuesday will ask leading councillors to agree that the authority begins the process of finding a developer for a leisure centre-led complex on the Arcade site, on the corner of High Street and Hoe Street in Walthamstow.
The development, which will also include shops and a cinema, will be funded by selling the Pool & Track, in Chingford Road, and by borrowing £35m from the government.
Both deputy council leader Lib Dem John Macklin and Conservative group leader Matt Davis are angry that the plans are being brought forward so swiftly.
In June cabinet members agreed to open up the Arcade site for temporary use. A report to cabinet at that time stated there would be a delay of up to two or three years before permanent development.
Cllr Davis said there was an understanding that the financing of Arcade site development would be put on hold until the economic conditions improved.
He said: “It was made quite clear we were going to wait until the market picked up.
“Now we are going to sell the pool and track and indulge in prudential borrowing.
“This is a headlong rush without any proper examination and it is all for Labour's party political reasons.
“If Cllr Robbins carries on like this there is a real chance our group and the Lib Dems could bring down the cabinet.”
Cllr Macklin, who attempted to get the report altered, is concerned that Cllr Robbins wants to push ahead with the sale of the Pool & Track ahead of a consultation on the future of the land surrounding the facility next month.
He said: “I don't want to see our sports facilities close and this report, if agreed, undermines the consultation.”
Both Cllrs Davis and Macklin are also concerned there are too many unanswered questions surrounding the plans, such as what will happen to the existing Pool & Track site and whether the authority will be able to borrow the money in a recession.
Cllr Robbins has promised that the Pool & Track will not close until the new pool at the Arcade site is open.
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