As I have written before, the old school on Lime Grove has been considered by the Conservative council as a site for a wet-house.

For all the time that the site was the leading contender for a homeless hostel, suitable for alcohol consumption, the plans were kept secret and only leaked out when the cabinet member accidentally referred to them in a council meeting. Currently, the planned location is by Kingsmead Square – although this is also hotly contested.

My ward colleague in Kingsmead has asked for the documentation about the decision and was only able to force access using the Freedom of Information act. This shows that Lime Grove was considered by the experts as the best site, although the cabinet eventually chose Kingsmead because they thought that there would be less public resistance.

Given that the Kingsmead site is also controversial, I asked the Conservative in charge about the Lime Grove proposals. The written quetion and answer are here – scroll to question 6 on page 6. He says that the Kingsmead site decision will not be re-visited and that he has no hold on the Lime Grove site. However, he did not answer my points about the secrecy and lack of consultation surrounding the process.

I have checked with the council’s property team and they are preparing to re-market the site for commercial purchase (you may remember the aborted student housing bid of last year). All indications are that the Lime Grove site will not be used for a wet-house.

The only question remaining – can you trust a Tory?!