Gornal News & Goings On

NEWS

Lakes Club - further plans to demolish Four months ago, in the aftermath of the decision to flatten the Pig On The Wall to build a McDonalds restaurant, we reported that there was a planning application to demolish The Lakes Club (click here). The proposal was later rejected on a technical point before reaching the Development Control Committee, but we now learn that a second application has been lodged. Application Reference P02/2326 was registered on the 12th December 2002 by Thamesway Properties Ltd., and proposes to demolish The Lakes in order to erect 9 terraced houses and 6 two bedroom apartments. We have been contacted by a concerned martial arts organisation that is based at The Lakes. Keith Andrews, who runs the club, says: "We train Gornal kids from 6 to 15 years old at The Lakes on Mondays and Wednesdays. The children need to train to make them a better person but at the moment I'm hearing things about The Lakes closing down for development". With so many problems of anti-social behaviour in Gornal at the moment, it is to be hoped that the disappearance of a community resource will be a factor taken into account by the Development Control Committee when assessing the application.

Next: Gornal Citizens Advice Bureau surgeries..