DEPUTY council leader John Macklin will tell his cabinet colleagues tonight that sufficient money is available for the Arcade site project without the need to sell off any part of Waltham Forest Pool & Track.
Lib Dem Cllr Macklin, has clashed with Labour council leader Cllr Robbins about the council's latest plans which involve selling the pool at the Chingford Road facility or “alternative assets” to raise £10m towards the cost of the Arcade site project.
At a cabinet meeting tonight Cllr Macklin will tell members that the money is already contained within the authority's capital expenditure programme.
The Guardian has yet to see Cllr Macklin's evidence for his claim.
Cllr Macklin said: “Money is already in place to pay for a redevelopment of the Walthamstow Arcade site.
“In plain financial terms, it seems to make absolutely no sense to constantly be looking to sell council land and property at the bottom of the market.
“But on a practical level, we don’t believe that a leisure pool on the Arcade site will act as an appropriate replacement.”
Both the Lib Dem and Conservative groups have raised doubts about whether a new swimming pool would act as an effective “anchor tenant” to attract business to the area.
Cllr Robbins has said that the pool at Waltham Forest Pool & Track will not close until the new pool at the Arcade site is open.
The latest plan for the Arcade development will be funded by £35m of borrowed money and the £10m from the sale of the Pool & Track or “alternative assets”.
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