Tractor production up again! Greenwich Council reports brush over bad news?

It’s that time again when Greenwich Council’s Cabinet receive reports from council officers and departments on latest changes in the borough.

These reports are a good way to keep up to date with issues. One issue I’ve been looking at recently is decreased use of leisure centres within the borough. This has hit Woolwich and Greenwich particularly hard.

This report shows another overall fall of 2.9 per cent in visitor numbers across all Greenwich borough leisure centres in the latest quarter but when the report offers comment, only those seeing growth gain a mention when it comes to numbers. Eltham saw a  2.8% rise and Sutcliffe Park was 6.9%.

We get nothing on Woolwich except: “Investment plans are underway for the refresh of Waterfront until the new Woolwich Centre is built. This will involve a host of refurbishment particularly on poolside areas.”

It doesn’t mention that these measures had to be rushed forward after a large pipe fell into the main pool. All pools in the centre will not reopen until the summer.

Ah, but that happened after the reporting period you may say. So why the mention of Plumstead Centre opening? That was also after Q3 2019/20.

Reading these reports reveals issues certain glossed over and selectively covered. Let’s hope councillors are asking why they’re getting a selective view.

You can read the relevant section of report here.