The smoke screen placed around the Leisure Centre by the Council is well known, (sorry, can't comment - lawyers, you know) and so it is good to salute again www.clissoldleisure.com . Put together by real users of the Centre when it was open, and want to see it open again, it is always worth a visit, albeit with some reservations. It was previously reviewed here back in issue 17:  www.n16mag.com/issue17/p35i17.htm   

First, the good news. I don't know how they did it but they have a copy of a letter from Sport England to Diane Abbott MP listing a huge range of scathing comments about the whole sorry story. To quote from their editorial comment on the said document: 'Surely, with this, it is now time for Hackney Council to sit down and do the only thing that is now left open to them - choose the level of their humiliation. It is time to give up on damage control and short life-span press statements and start to serve us. This fiasco means young people are growing up without the opportunities to which they are entitled. This letter, with its information that Leisure Connection were operating in Hackney for 18
months not only without a Sports Strategy in place but also without a contract, brings
in a whole new list of alleged faults and maladministration by this council.'

Well worth a visit just for that. It is always being updated - when we visited the site
the weekend before going to press, the site headlined with a story about Hackney Council cockups over plans for the London Fields Lido. Yes, I know that London Fields is not in N16 but we have to swim somewhere. 

The problem that I have with the site is that these days you have to wade through many links about far too much extra junk in the shape of far too many general news stories. I would much prefer to have this on a separate page. There used to be an American TV ad which used the strap line 'Where's the beef' and this sums up the front page. While readers with broadband might not notice, if you still use a dialup account (still the majority by a large margin in the area) it takes an age to download. Even with broadband you still have to scroll through links and stories covering everything but the leisure centre.

The reason that I added the above link to my previous article is that there used to be a wonderful spoof article by Brian Sweel about the new Clissold Art Trail. I just hope that the little snip it included is not the only remaining copy. At that time the site was far more focused than it is today, so come on give us 'the beef', and leave the soggy salad on the side. 

If you want to swim regularly then a trip to www.clissoldswimmingclub.org.uk is well worthwhile. The club now has regular training at Highbury Grove School. The club was previously found at clissold swimmingclub.groundlevel.org, so it's worth updating your Favourites links.

Ever the investigative journalist (no comments from the Ed, thanks), I felt that I 
should also visit the council website for the latest updates. Nothing on the press release
front, but a reasonablish set of the official reports on the three Scrutiny Panel meetings
from the Clissold Leisure Centre (see page 5) and a link from the front page to a 'have
your say, online Re. Leisure Services - Getting The Balance Right'. According to the site,
this page was updated on 15 July. So, ever the adventurer, I clicked on the link only to be
confronted with a page that stated 'Service for this period has now expired. The Have
Your Say service for London Borough of Hackney expired on 19 Jul 2004'. Oh dear, what a pity, never mind.

Sometimes you come across a website that you have to take your hat off to, and www.enabledlondon.com is certainly one of them. While currently this site concentrates
on the Tower Hamlets and south Hackney areas, I really want to encourage those of our readers who use a wheelchair or have other physical or learning disability and struggles with local establishments for proper access to log on and let the site know so that they can upate their lists.

What is Enabled London? A group of people using their different skills to share information and make positive changes. An independent group shaped by people with disabilities. An access guide to going out. This is a site that should cover the whole of
London, so give it a look, I can think of both good and bad practice in Stoke Newington so
if you are reading this and have any ideas do let the site know.