Last month, Richmond Council leader, Serge Lourie, sensationally announced that he was to postpone signing a contract to transform Twickenham Riverside until after next May's local election.

With nearly 10,000 signatures on a petition against the plans - which involve building 32 homes and a river centre - the riverside will be a key election issue.

With six months until polling day, all sides in the argument are gearing up for the fight.

Reporter HELEN CLARKE spoke to Mr Lourie, Scott Naylor of Save Our Riverside, opposition leader Nicholas True, Guy Lambert of developer Countryside, and Rob Gray of the Environment Trust, which would run the proposed river centre, to find out what they're doing now

Scott Naylor has spent every Saturday for the past 42 weeks at a campaign stall in Twickenham. As a member of Save Our Riverside, he has been instrumental in leading the battle against the council's plans, which has included taking a petition to the Prime Minister. Everyone he told about the postponement was relieved, he said.

"The delight is obvious for all to see when the news is broken to the community and the traders - smiles and laughter appear spontaneously on the faces of everyone we meet," added Mr Naylor.

"Our hundreds of friends we see in the street every day, and on Saturdays in particular at the street stall on the corner of Church Street and King Street, are full of congratulations for making this council come to its senses and let the people have their say at the ballot box."

But he still had concerns about the alleged 'open space' detailed in the council's plans. "We have very different ideas of what classes as open space," he said.

The campaigners want to see around 80 per cent of the land remain open to the public, a ban on traffic by the riverside, a market square in which to hold markets, live events and possibly a winter ice rink, and a selection of cafes and shops to reflect 'old Twickenham' - something the council says it just cannot afford.

Conservative leader Nicholas True has supported the campaigners. He said he thinks the last month's announcement effectively signalled the end of the line for developer Countryside's involvement in the riverside. "We shouldn't waste the time between now and May," he said. "There is no future in the Countryside scheme, although Serge does not seem to see that yet.

"As councillors, we need to make sure we are in constant contact with the community to find out what they want. The campaigners and the wider community should use this time to work together to come up with a single alternative plan.

"I will be meeting with the community groups on Friday to discuss where we're at now."

Mr True said if his party takes over the council next year he would establish a Twickenham Trust. He would sign over the former swimming pool site to the care of the Trust when a viable green alternative is found.

"That way, we will never again be in this situation, where the council is threatening to sell off this vital piece of land," he said.

Guy Lambert, Countryside's communications manager said the company remains fully committed to the scheme. He denied the reason for the delay in producing accounts was because the company had financial difficulties.

"By any conventional accountancy measure Countryside Properties' parent company is entirely solvent and financially sound," he said.

"Countryside Properties is operating well within its banking facilities. The group's accounts for the year to September 2008 show that bank borrowings were £287.4million, with facilities of £445m at that time.

"In addition, the group has recently completed a refinancing of its balance sheet with its bankers, Bank of Scotland plc - part of Lloyds Banking Group. This refinancing has restored the group's net assets to a very positive position, £110m."

Sales of homes in September 2009 were worth £83m, he added. "As has already been reported, the company posted a loss of £81.7m in the year to September 2008.

"However, this figure takes into account interest, taxation, amortisation and impairment of goodwill. Before these figures, the company's earnings were in fact £7.2m on a turnover of £376.8m.

"These figures are very much in line with other companies in our sector and effectively restructure the company's finances to accommodate the new market conditions."

When he made his announcement about the postponement of the signing of the contract, Serge Lourie said he intended to spend the next six months speaking to residents about how important he thinks the scheme is.

"We believe our scheme to bring the derelict former pool site back into use represents a major boost for Twickenham," he said.

"It will end 29 years of dereliction, contribute to the regeneration of Twickenham, provide a state of the art river centre backed by Sir David Attenborough, a new public park with children's playground, an improved cafe and environmental improvements to the embankment, all at no capital cost to council tax payers.

"We recognise that we must correct some myths. We are not going to sell the whole site, as the council will keep 74 per cent. We will not cover the site with housing. Only 26 per cent will be used for housing, and we will not close the cafe permanently - we will produce a bigger and better cafe.

"We will not close the playground permanently. We will build a river-themed playground that will be moved nearer the river and the new cafe. And we will not build luxury dwellings people cannot afford - we will build 15 terraced houses and 17 flats designed by local architect Clive Chapman, in keeping with this riverside location and priced in line with local property.

"The public benefit of £4m is being provided at no cost to local taxpayers and we will remove many of the cars that currently disfigure the embankment, away from the river."

The Environment Trust for Richmond has been confirmed as the organisation which would take over the management of the proposed river centre.

Campaigners have attacked the Trust for not producing a formal business plan, but the group's Rob Gray insists it has great plans for the centre.

"We have been working on the river centre project for the last six years," he said. "We have been helped enormously by a large group of highly skilled people, most of whom are providing their time on a voluntary basis, and a network of supportive local community groups and organisations.

"We are fully aware of the objections to the overall development. Having considered these carefully, we continue to believe that the riverside scheme will provide major benefits to both the local community and the environment.

"The Trust accepts that this scheme will now be considered by the electorate at the forthcoming election. We will use this six-month period to extend our programmes of environmental education for all ages, and employment training.

"We have been greatly encouraged by the continued strength of local support for the river centre project. When people see what we are proposing, most of them welcome it and many of them are volunteering their own time and energies to help. We remain hopeful that the river centre will be delivered, as part of a tranche of community benefits on the site."

They have had their say,now it's your turn. Email your views on the Riverside development to helenclarke@trinitysouth.co.uk, or post a message below.