Posted: 3/2/2005; 1:28:35 AM 
Friends of Forest Hill Baths
March 15th 1994: We post this
leisure review for you to read, so that you have some of the background
to the current state of affairs that exists in Lewisham with respect to
leisure and sport facilities.
In the meantime we await the current leisure review and condition survey of Forest Hill pools.
Both of which Lewisham Council appears to be apprehensive of producing for public scrutiny.
Click here to read the report
Swimming Provision in Lewisham - 21 October 1994
(pdf 1.9 Mb)
December 15th: In answer to public questions,
Lewisham Council said "No decision has been taken as yet on the
long term future of Forest Hill Pool although it is in a poor state of
repair. In particular the 'plant' cannot be guaranteed to continue to
function safely and could fail without warning. There are however no
plans to close Forest Hill at present......The capital spending
programme is planned ahead, and includes spending on sports and leisure
facilities as well as other Council priorities. The needs of the Forest
Hill complex will therefore be considered in the light of other
competing claims on the Council's capital funds. See www.saveladywellpool.com
November 2004: Kristine Taylor who set up the Friends of Forest Hill Baths group reports:
“Lewisham Council threatened to close the baths in 1996. When
I called the town hall a council officer told me that this was none of
my business, so I phoned the South London press and asked for support,
which they gave. As part of the campaign we set up a traders
organisation and then involved Sainsbury’s and later Boots and
Connex. I told them this is about local people’s health and
livelihoods, it’s about children learning to swim, and everyone keeping
fit. They took our leaflets and handed them out to customers.
“The effect snowballed and soon I was getting a call every 9 seconds
about the baths, from local people, press and even people in government
departments who had learned to swim in Forest Hill. I kept
saying to people ‘The baths were put there for us to use and they are
ours’. We had lots of publicity including Channel 5 who did some
filmed interviews. In the end the Council started changing their
minds; after a big public meeting I found out from Ceefax that the
baths had been saved. “The Friends of Forest Hill Baths were set up to make
sure that this doesn’t happen again. We fear that the baths will
be closed and knocked down when the new Lewisham pool is built".
More information from Kristine Taylor on 020 8699 1605
News Postings Archive
Forest Hill Pools in Lewisham has been closed today.
Lewisham Council made this sudden announcement today after surveyors discovered that some of the 126 year old beams holding the victorian glass ceiling was rotten.
The pool will stay closed and the Council is now considering bringing forward the programmed refurbishment that had been scheduled to take place in a few years time. ...more ---> ...| Forest Hill Pools | 27 March 2006; 5:15:29 PM |# | | Discuss |
 "The much heralded consultation on the future of Forest Hill Pools stumbled to a beginning at the first of two consultations at Sydenham Girls School on Wednesday night (October 5th 2005). Stumbled because most of the consultation documents have yet to be circulated and there was no obvious publicity to be found either at the Pools or nearby Library. Nevertheless the word had got around and around 150 people came to hear what Lewisham's Mayor (and Forest Hill resident) Steve Bullock had to say and express their own opinions."
It is becoming increasingly difficult to cover progress on the consultation on Forest Hill pools as it seems, among many things, that the consultation documents to which we recently linked on the Lewisham website have been withdrawn and replaced with a new document with significant differences.
version one
version two with, what some have called, tendentious list of advantages and disadvantages
(Via The Forest Hill London SE23 News: Forest Hill Pools Consultation: .) ...more ---> ...| Forest Hill Pools | 7 October 2005; 8:14:31 AM |# | | Discuss |
THE future of London's two oldest swimming pools has been plunged into uncertainty.
It is feared that the much-loved Forest Hill Pools in Dartmouth Road, may be surplus to requirements.
The council (Lewisham) has said it has no 'specific' plans for the site which has two 25 metre pools but admits it is evaluating all leisure facilities in the borough.
Seven years ago the South London Press supported the Save Forest Hill Pools Campaign, which successfully fought off an attempt to close the facilities. Now the future of the pools is again uncertain."
(Via By Julia Lewis, South London Press.) ...more ---> ...| Forest Hill Pools | 23 February 2005; 12:16:53 PM |# | | Discuss |
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Lewisham boasts 2 pool campaigns - the 
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