Councillor Julia Fletcher, Lib Dem education spokesperson, commented, "I can't believe that it is over two years since our motion to Council calling on the Mayor to keep Ladywell Leisure Centre open until the new leisure facility was ready. We have long argued that Ladywell was not a suitable site for the school and that it was not easily accessible from the north-west of the borough, where new secondary places are most needed. A new school at the Lewisham Bridge site will enjoy excellent transport links. The young people will also benefit from the school's proximity to the new leisure centre."

Councillors Dave Edgerton and Andrew Milton, who represent Lewisham Central ward, were delighted by the Mayor's change of policy. Cllr Edgerton said, "The Ladywell pool site was totally unsuitable: crowded, congested, unhealthy. Local people need their leisure centre - why has it taken the Mayor so long to recognise this?"

Cllr Andrew Milton, who spoke at the Mayor and Cabinet meeting in support of the Lewisham Bridge site for the new school, added, "We are obviously delighted that the campaign to save Ladywell Leisure Centre - in which Liberal Democrats were active right from the start - has achieved this victory. However, there is much still to do. Ensuring that the new leisure centre will provide first-rate facilities, better than those at Ladywell. And working constructively for a first class school fully integrated in a first class location, with facilities used by the local community out of hours. This is particularly important, given the plans for so many new homes to be built nearby under the Lewisham Gateway proposals."

"We shall need to ensure too that the both the school and the pool are as environmentally sustainable as possible."