The Labour Council’s plans for a £10m investment in the Charlton Lido lay in tatters this week after Greenwich Conservatives Leader Spencer Drury forced them to admit in public that the development would not go ahead as planned.

After the Council's failure to agree to public pressure to reopen the Lido earlier this Summer, Cllr Graeme Coombes sought a meeting with Council Officers to clarify the situation. This meeting raised more questions than it answered, and despite the closure, no work is taking place at the Lido with no prospect of anything happening in the near future. Cllr Coombes commented: “The Labour Council's attitude to the Lido development is unbelievable, they seem totally unconcerned by the lack of activity and are complacent beyond belief.

Greenwich Conservatives have expressed anger at the Labour Council’s decision to close  Hornfair Lido for the school summer holidays. In July, local Conservatives, led by Parliamentary Candidate Spencer Drury presented a petition to Council and called for the reopening of the Lido for August – a call rejected by Charlton’s Labour Councillors.

Earlier this year, Greenwich Council decided to close Hornfair Lido on health and safety grounds.  It had been known for a year that work would be required to open the Lido this summer, but the Council had failed to undertake any of the necessary maintenance prior to July.