I write further to the article about the St Pauls swimming pool proposal and the traffic situation on August 7.

As the article stated, there is unquestionable photographic evidence, verified by two headteachers, to show that 12 to 13 cars and not four to six every half hour is a more realistic representation of the traffic flow of the people using the proposer's swimming pool at present.

There is therefore no misunderstanding by the residents. Instead, there is a lack of scrutiny by Councillor Reid as she states that she is happy with the figures submitted by the developers, but gives no indication as to what basis, if any, she uses to confirm her belief that the original figures are correct.

It is also implied that the school is reliant on private investment such as this to have an enclosed pool. However, when I was a pupil at the school, on two separate occasions a parent offered to enclose the pool for free, but this was rejected by the current headteacher, as have numerous subsequent offers. It is, therefore, a misnomer to suggest, as the article does, that the school cannot have an enclosed pool without building a private business on its grounds.

When the proposers of the pool approached another school in the borough, they were swiftly rejected because the governors felt that their school would lose autonomy and control over their own swimming pool.

Why was it that when proposals to enclose the school pool for free were rejected, is this plan being ratified?

It is not necessary to inflict on residents a private business being built in such a restricted residential area that will inevitably mean traffic and noise from around 7am for more than 12 hours on weekdays and eight hours on Saturdays, for the school to have an enclosed pool.

There is no conceivable way that the governors of the school could have been unaware of the residential objections. Whilst no written objections were submitted in January, after careful consideration of the application and its implications by residents, a petition was submitted to the neighbourhood committee which lead to the proposals being deferred for further investigation in April with Councillor Reid present.

Nicholas Garland

Hawkhurst Gardens

Chessington

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