We are sure many of you have seen the front page of the Gazette of a few weeks ago.
http://ruislip.uxbridgegazette.co.uk/2012/01/at-long-last-ruislip-lido-gets.html
Well, we don't 'quite' agree with Cllr Puddifoot's version of events :-)
The Environment Agency DIDN'T give the original Lido development plans a clean bill of health, they refused to allow the water level to be raised due to flood risk. Hillingdon Council had hoped to raise the level, and had commissioned several 'rather' expensive reports to see how that could be done. Thanks at least in part to the tireless work of a few local residents, the various safety issues, mostly ignored by the Council, were made public.
The water level that has been accepted by the Environment Agency is the same level as the Lido has been 'officially' maintained at for about the last five years. So the water level will not be raised. Well done to everyone involved.
But that also means that the council took serious and unnecessary risks in 2010 by keeping the water in the Lido nearly half a metre higher than the Enviroment Agency have ruled is safe ...
"It is quite clear from the calculations Halcrow has submitted in the latest reports, that the raised water levels that Hillingdon Council maintained the Lido at between January 2010 and November 2010, having apparently taken no professional advice that it was safe to do so, increased the risk of flooding in many properties in the flood zone downstream of the Lido"
We are also quite appalled at Cllr Puddifoot's declaration that the car park will be built this year, when they have not actually secured planning permission for it, and despite the huge level of opposition (over 2000 signatures on various petitions).
There are serious concerns about the site of this proposed car park, not least of which is how the extra traffic and traffic flow will be managed at the end of Reservoir Road. Others include how the new site will be kept secure, the already huge problems of anti-social behaviour at the Lido (no doubt to become worse due to the fact we now have no staff based at the site), environmental issues, and the detrimental effect the new road and traffic will have on Willow Lawn. The Council have also refused to answer if the proposed car park will be pay and display.
We'd like to hear from YOU. What are your thoughts now about the development and proposed car park? Are you in the flood risk zone? Are you relieved that a safe level has been established, or do you want answers as to why the risks were taken?