Camden Council The campaign group did a well-received speech to the Camden Council meeting 21 November, with the support of the local ward councillors. We were able to circulate photos of swimmers enjoying the pond and to hand in a copy of the petition. We were able to put over the point that the pond was a visionary work, was used by the community and enthusiasts from London and beyond, but was disappointingly closed early. We made clear that there was an opportunity for a community led project to run the pond, in combination with the park, to be accessible to all, the jewel in the crown of the King’s Cross development. The council’s cabinet member with responsibility for planning responded to say that this was a temporary art facility, that it wasn’t well used, that a park would benefit all. He did also expressed hope that the Council gets applications in future to provide similar facilities. The deputation is available on the Camden Council webcast http://camden.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/253634 – see our bit starting at 46 minutes in. You can download the speech here http://twitdoc.com/6VOB and the council planning officer’s statement here http://twitdoc.com/6VOA We have emailed all councillors to thank them for receiving the delegation and to rebut the points in that planning statement. We also said that we are interested to help work with them on any future proposals for a similar facility in the borough. You can download that letter here http://twitdoc.com/6VOF What now? Sadly, although the pond structure has not yet gone, the water and plants have, and work is proceeding to remove the rest. It seems unlikely that we will be able to save the pond in its current location, and it is probably too late and too difficult to salvage any of the materials. It is very disappointing that the substantial investment in creating and developing the pond has been wasted in this way. However, although it looks as if we haven’t managed to save the pond, our efforts have not been wasted. We’ve achieved an amazing amount of support in a short time, and we’ve shown that there is a demand for open water swimming in an urban area. Massive thanks to all of the supporters for your comments, ideas and enthusiasm. Another pond, at another location? At the council meeting positive noises were made about finding somewhere else to establish a pond. Are any of you interested in working towards establishing a natural pond somewhere else in Camden or in London? We are in touch with the architects for King’s Cross pond and will also be contacting the company that built it to see what other possibilities there are. People might also like to support the Thames Baths project to establish a freshwater pond floating on the Thames: http://thamesbaths.com/ You can still contact us Although the campaign will no longer be active, we are planning to retain the email address, Twitter account and leave the petition up for some time, so that we can be contacted at: savekxpondcampaign@gmail.com @savekxpond / https://twitter.com/savekxpond bit.ly/kxpondpetition