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See below for news on:Streatham Hub report to Lambeth Cabinet 26th July 2010 (updated 28.07.10) Update from Future Streatham announcing Cabinet report (updated 27.07.10) Streatham Hub Public Meeting on 22nd July 2010 (updated 05.07.10) Shortlist of three sites for temporary rink (added 26.06.10) Controversy over temporary Ice Rink on Streatham Common (added 12.05.10) Sites considered for temporary rink (updated 26.06.10) Lambeth Council election results and new Cabinet (updated 26.05.10) Lambeth Cabinet approves Streatham Hub report on 29th March 2010 (updated 09.04.10) Streatham Hub project to go ahead with temporary rink (updated 03.04.10) Tesco protest extended for 3 more Saturdays (updated 14.03.10) Public meeting 10th Feb 2010 (updated 25.02.10) Hub question at Council Meeting 20th Jan 2010 (added 16.01.10) Streatham Leisure Centre closes due to safety concerns (added 26.11.09) Petitions set up by local parties (updated 26.11.09) Public meeting about Streatham Hub (updated 16.10.09) SLP article about further delay to Hub project (added 19.03.09) Streatham ice dancers selected for World Championship (added 19.03.09) Revised plans get planning consent (added 20.11.08) For older news see Campaign News - Archive WStreatham Hub report to Lambeth Cabinet 26th July 2010A report on the Streatham Hub was presented to Lambeth Cabinet on Monday 26th July 2010. The published report is here. To find all the papers for the meeting go to Cabinet Meeting 26th July 2010. At the meeting, the Cabinet agreed to Pope's Road Car Park in Brixton as the recommended temporary ice rink site. Recommendations 1-4 below were approved. Recommendation 5 (about temporary dry sports and swimming facilities) was modified - the council is not going to pursue this and just continue with the arrangements offered to residents at existing facilities in other areas. A planning application for the temporary rink is expected in August. In reply to the question from SISAG, Council officers reconfirmed the commitment that the Tesco store will not be allowed to open before the new permanent leisure facilities. We were concerned that this guarantee might be weakened when the legal agreements on the development are modified for the new phasing. We will check that the commitment given appears in the minutes of the meeting. Recommendations from report to Cabinet:
Back to Top of Page Update from Future Streatham announcing Cabinet reportThe update from Future Streatham announcing the Cabinet report (see item above) said: The latest cabinet report recommends the disused Popes Rd car park in Brixton is earmarked as the site of a temporary ice rink as part of the Streatham Hub regeneration scheme. The council-owned site is scheduled for demolition this year and would mean that the temporary ice rink could open next summer. A shortlist of three sites – comprising the disused Popes Rd car park, Streatham Common and 512/522 Streatham High Road was considered. Whilst we would have preferred a Streatham location, the Popes Rd site was chosen as the best option based on a number of factors – including ease of access for visitors, technical matters, such as drainage and power supply, along with timescales and costs of developing land. If agreed, a planning application to build the temporary ice rink in Brixton will be submitted this summer. Additionally, a planning application is also expected from Tesco next week for a mezzanine floor for their proposed store as part of this Streatham regeneration project. We will be talking with local residents and businesses over the summer in addition to the statutory planning consultation. Councillor Florence Nosegbe, Cabinet member for Culture, Sport and 2012 Games said: “ensuring that the hub will include all the facilities residents need has always been a priority and central to negotiations. We are clear we want to build top class sports facilities, including swimming pool and ice rink, with a temporary rink while the new one is being built.” Saki Hajnal from the Streatham Ice Skating Action Group said: “our priority is continuity of ice skating provision. The revised plans mean losing the existing rink before the new leisure centre is built, so a temporary ice rink is essential, and needs to be big enough to allow all the existing activities to continue. We would have preferred a site in Streatham, but if the Popes Road site means the project can go ahead without further delay that is good news.” Agreeing a location for the temporary ice rink and the submission of Tesco’s planning application for a mezzanine floor will be two more important hurdles cleared towards our shared aim of delivering a multi-million pound regeneration scheme. The success of these planning applications will mean full speed ahead for the Streatham Hub and the provision of state-of-the-art new leisure facilities for Streatham residents. The Streatham hub regeneration project represents a huge opportunity for local residents and businesses to benefit from vital improvements to the local area. It will revitalise the neighbourhood, bringing 250 new homes, up to 600 jobs and significant numbers of new visitors to Streatham. You can find the latest information about Streatham Hub on the council website or you can contact The Cabinet report is also published on the council website. Back to Top of Page Streatham Hub Public Meeting on 22nd July 2010(NOTE DATE/TIME CHANGE from 15th July at 7 to 22nd July at 6.30) There will be a Public Meeting on the Streatham Hub on Thursday 22nd July at 6.30pm at Dunraven School (Leigham Court Road), organised by newly-elected Streatham MP Chuka Umunna. He will chair the meeting and there will be representatives from Lambeth Council and Tesco. The meeting was postponed by one week from the original date to allow people to digest a report on the Hub project, due to be released on 16th July. The meeting is open to the public, but we have been told it would be helpful if people who wish to attend could email Chuka Umunna's Office Manager with Streatham Hub Meeting in the subject line, giving their full name and postal address. For more information contact her at the same address. Back to Top of Page Shortlist of three sites for temporary rinkFrom the original list of 14 (see below) Lambeth has narrowed the possibilities for the temporary ice rink to three sites. They are
Back to Top of Page Controversy over temporary Ice Rink on Streatham CommonLambeth and Tesco's new plan involves having a temporary rink off-site during the development. The March announcement of Streatham Common as preferred site for the temporary rink is controversial, and several groups are mobilising to resist it (see www.handsoffourcommon.com). This new issue has made campaigning for the ice rink in a way that unifies the local community more complicated. Most of these groups say they want an ice rink in Streatham, and want continuity, but their priorities may be different. As a group, SISAG's single issue is continuity of ice provision, and if a temporary rink on the Common is the only option to get continuity, we cannot oppose it. However, we have no desire to be in conflict with other groups, and it would be better if a temporary site could be found that was less divisive, as long as it didn't cause additional delay.
We will continue to circulate any information we receive about potential alternative sites.
Back to Top of Page Sites considered for temporary rinkLambeth's Regeneration and Enterprise Division responded to a question from Cllr Whelan (triggered by the Streatham Society) asking which sites other than Streatham Common were considered for the temporary ice rink. This is the first place we have seen that actually lists the sites considered in what is described as a "high-level scoping exercise". The Streatham sites considered included: Streatham Common, Stockport Playing Fields, St Julian’s Farm Road SW16, Valley Road SW16, Former M15 site on London Road SW16. Other sites outside of Streatham that were considered included: Brockwell Park, Somerleyton Road (temp school site), Coldharbour Lane (opposite Barrier block of flats), Popes Road car park, Clapham Common, Knights Hill (former Lambeth College site in Norwood), Tooting Common (near public Lido) and Crystal Palace. The full question and response are here. Back to Top of Page Lambeth Council election results and new CabinetAfter the local election on 6th May 2010, Lambeth Council as a whole has an increased Labour majority. The Streatham wards remained with the same parties as before: Liberal Democrat in Streatham Hill, Streatham Wells and St Leonards, Labour in Streatham South. There are some new councillors. The full list is here. Before the election, Councillor Lib Peck was heavily involved with the meetings on the Streatham Hub project as Cabinet member for Housing and Regeneration. In the new Cabinet Arrangements Housing and Regeneration have been split. Councillor Peck remains Cabinet member for Housing. The new Cabinet member for Regeneration, Planning and Employment is Councillor Sally Prentice. We assume the Streatham Hub project will now come under her remit. The implications, if any, of this reorganisation are not yet clear. Back to Top of Page Lambeth Cabinet approves Streatham Hub reportLambeth held a special Cabinet meeting to consider the Streatham Hub report on Monday 29th March 2010 at 5pm. The documents for the meeting including the report and minutes are here. This summary is from notes, in advance of the official minutes. Cllr Lib Peck (Regeneration) introduced the new plan and said it was a fruitful outcome of the negotiations with Tesco. The scheme is intact except for the larger Tesco retail space and the off-site provision for continuity of ice. The next steps were to finalise the new development agreement, confirm the site for the temporary rink and submit planning applications. Cllr Rachel Heywood, whose portfolio includes both Sport+Leisure and Open Spaces, said that any permission for Streatham Common must be temporary, with the building completely dismantled afterwards and the Common restored in full. The Project Manager from Spenhill (a wholly-owned regeneration subsidiary of Tesco) spoke on behalf of Tesco. He said it was a good example of partnership, and would create 600 new jobs. They are fully committed to continuity of ice and will work with the Council to put on an exhibition explaining the plans. Saki Hajnal spoke for SISAG, welcoming the commitments to continuity of ice but saying the change to off-site provision raised some concerns. She asked for an assurance that the new Tesco store would not be allowed to open until the new permanent leisure centre was open, to prevent Tesco not caring about delays to the leisure centre construction because they could say the temporary rink was still there. she also asked whether there had been preliminary discussions with the Mayor's office and the Government Office for London, to give credibility to the 7-month timescale for planning approval shown in the report (since on the previous occasion it took 22 months to get approval from the Mayor and GOL). A spokesman for the Friends of Streatham Common welcomed progress on the Hub but voiced strong opposition to the plans for a temporary rink and possibly a gym on the Common. He said the Metropolitan Commons Act allowed no building except for the management of the Common, and Common land should not be taken out of public use except in exceptional circumstances (as happened in WW2). They are concerned about disruption, removal of trees, closure of footpaths, traffic on the Common, and feel Tesco and Lambeth should be able to provide temporary provision on the Streatham Hub site. Brian Bloice of the Streatham Society was unable to attend but had sent an email submission to Cabinet (which the meeting did not hear). Cllr Ashley Lumsden spoke for the Council Opposition. He welcomed continuity of ice but expressed concern that the previous planning permission was not implemented and asked whether Lambeth were going to create a better mechanism than planning conditions to ensure the promises are kept this time, such as a financial bond from Tesco. Lee Alley of Streatham Action spoke about the strong feeling from the two public meetings, and wanted more information about what work had been done on alternatives before deciding on the Common. He was among several speakers to regret that this issue, previously unifying, was now causing division amongst local society because of the plan to use the Common. He also proposed a bond from Tesco to cover the full cost of building the leisure facilities. Matthew Stevens, a local resident who lives close to the development, was concerned about traffic management and wanted more details of the leisure facilities. There were then questions from members of Cabinet, including Cllrs John Kazantsis and Mark Bennett, whose Streatham South ward includes the Common. They said it was perhaps surprising that they support this proposal, but they felt it was the best option in the circumstances. Council officers then responded to the questions. Sandra Fryer (Divisional Director of Strategy and Partnerships) said that:
Peter Jones (Divisional Director of Cultural Services) said that:
Mark Hynes (Legal Officer) said that:
In conclusion Cllr Lib Peck said that the messages she was taking from the meeting were the importance of confidence, communication and delivery. Cllr Steve Reed (leader of the Council) said that speaking as a resident he understands the importance of both the rink and the Common. He welcomed this plan, with its shorter development time, as a good deal for Streatham. At the end of the meeting the Cabinet approved the recommendations from the report. Back to Top of Page Streatham Hub project to go ahead with temporary rinkOn 17th March 2010 Tesco Board approved an agreement to go ahead with the Streatham Hub development to provide the same leisure, housing and supermarket development as originally promised, and hopes to deliver it by December 2012. But a change to the delivery of the project means the entire site (including the existing rink) will be knocked down at the same time. Tesco says it has not broken a promise of "continuity of ice provision" in the area, as a "high quality" temporary ice rink will be built in its place. A Tesco spokesman said plans for the temporary ice rink are expected to be unveiled in the near future and could open as early as next year. The Streatham Guardian article about this is here The press release on the Lambeth website is here The article and press release were ambiguous, leading to fears that the existing rink might close before the temporary rink was available. A statement from Cllr Lib Peck clarifies that: The Council has been very clear with Tesco since last Autumn that continuity of ice was a deal breaker for us; and that ice had to be of a good enough quality and large enough to accommodate the range of activities that are currently undertaken at the existing rink. So the agreement we have with Tesco is that the demolition of the old rink would not start until the temporary provision was open for skaters. I can assure you that our agreement is that the bulldozers won’t move in until the temporary provision is fully operational. This deal was approved by Lambeth Council Cabinet at the special meeting on Monday 29th March (see above). Back to Top of Page Tesco protest extended for 3 more SaturdaysThere was a protest outside Tesco Metro on Saturday 27th February 2010. It was seen to be so successful, and gathered so much attention from passers-by both on foot and driving on the High Road, that the Streatham Action team and its supporters arranged to continue the protest for the next three weekends meeting at 11AM on Saturdays. All are invited. There is more information here. Back to Top of Page Public meeting 10th Feb 2010The second public meeting organised by Streatham Action took place on Wednesday 10th February 2010. The report below is a summary. The minutes of the meeting are here. Tesco did not send any representative. Lambeth were represented by
Here is a summary of what the Lambeth representatives said on the two main topics. Streatham Leisure Centre This was closed in November following safety concerns. There has been a full structural survey. To re-open it would cost in excess of £2M and would take 12-18 months. Lambeth is looking at providing temporary provision in the Streatham area. There is a temporary learner pool on the Lilian Baylis site in Kennington. A temporary gym and dance studio for 2-3 years could be erected quickly subject ot planning permission. One possible site is the car park at the Rookery in Streatham Common. They are looking for a site for a temporary 20 or 25m swimming pool. It was stressed that these temporary plans were to address the immediate shortage of facilities caused by the closure of the leisure centre, and were not anything to do with a "Plan B" for the Streatham Hub. Streatham Hub At the October meeting Tesco had just made revised proposals. There has been a lot of work since then, but the details are still confidential. Tesco have worked constructively with Lambeth. The have reviewed and shelved a lot of their regeneration schemes, but this is one they are still considering.Tesco would like to build the scheme in one go. Lambeth have made it clear that they are committed to continuity of ice provision and have no reason to dilute this commitment. Negotiations are coming to a head. There will be a Tesco board meeting in March and a report to Lambeth Cabinet by the end of March. At that stage officers expect either to report that agreement has been reached and the scheme can go ahead, or not, in which case they would consider alternatives. Under the current agreement they cannot consider such alternatives while negotiations are still going on on the approved scheme. Reaction from the floor There was a great deal of anger over the failure to maintain the leisure centre and prevent its closure, the uncertainty about alternative provision especially for swimming, the poor state of the ice rink, and the extraordinary long time that has passed without visible progress. Fear was expressed that Tesco would just wait so long that the existing rink would be unsustainable. Lambeth said that they have been clear with Tesco that they expect a timetable, and that things will not just drag on. It seems that the March Cabinet meeting is intended to be a decisive date. Frustration was expressed about the lack of a "Plan B" and the feeling that all the power is in Tesco's hands. Lambeth say they cannot consider alternatives for legal reasons while the current negotiations are continuing. It was pointed out that a piece of ice does not constitute continuity of provision. It is only continuity if all the current activities can continue, including ice hockey, multiple large learn-to-skate classes on the ice at once, full figure skating and ice dance programmes etc. Lambeth say they will not renege on continuity of provision. They implied (but did not state explicitly) that they might accept a temporary facility instead of the existing rink if it supported all the activities. However, they have not yet been able to identify a site for a 25m swimming pool, and clearly a full temporary ice rink would need a much larger site. Some of the people who attended were under the impression that Lambeth own existing rink and are responsible for its management. It was explained that Tesco own it and have a contract with a company called Starburst Ltd to run it. The absence of Tesco representatives and the fact that the negotiations are still confidential led to enormous frustration. It seems we will not find out any more until the papers are released for the March Cabinet meeting. Cabinet meetings are open to the public, although the opportunities for the public to speak are very limited. This one will be on Monday 22nd March 2010 at 7pm at Lambeth Town Hall. Back to Top of Page Hub question at Council meeting 20th Jan 2010At the meeting of Lambeth Council on 20th January 2010 there was a question and answer on the Streatham Hub. We believe the "public meeting early in 2010" mentioned in the answer will in practice be the meeting on 10th February organised by Streatham Action (see above). The relevant question and answer are below. It was question 7. Question 24 relates to the Leisure Centre and may also be of interest. The pdf document containing both questions and their written answers is here or to find all the papers for the meeting go to http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy/ Follow the link to 'Calendar of meetings' on the rhs, then scroll to 20th January for the Council meeting and click on the link. Questions from Councillors By: Councillor Julian Heather (submitted on 18.12.09) To: Councillor Lib Peck – Cabinet for Housing and Regeneration The Hub Why did the council promise at an October public meeting to report back on negotiations around the Hub/Ice Rink site within 8 weeks? Why did the council fail to keep to that timetable? Is the Council committed to continuity of Ice-Skating in Streatham? Party: Liberal Democrat Answer: Negotiations with Tesco are progressing well but they are also commercially confidential. Despite the Council and Tesco working to meet the 8 week deadline the nature of the issues encountered required further investigation. An update by the said deadline was therefore not possible and indeed, would not have been helpful to our negotiations. The Council has advised stakeholders that it is our intention to hold a public meeting early in 2010 where we can provide a proper update and give more complete details. The Council reaffirms its previous statements that it is committed to ensuring continuity of ice-skating in Streatham. Back to Top of Page Streatham Leisure Centre closes due to safety concernsIn an extremely negative consequence of the long delays to the Streatham Hub project, Streatham leisure centre has closed until further notice, after a ceiling fall caused health and safety concerns over the structure of the building. There is a press report here. Back to Top of Page Petitions set up by local partiesParliamentary candidates from the three main political parties have set up online petitions to campaign for continuity of Streatham’s ice rink provision pending the development of the Streatham Hub Scheme. The Labour petition is at http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/keep-streatham-skating.html. There is also a Facebook Group here The Liberal Democrat petition is at http://campaigns.libdems.org.uk/icerink. There is also a press story here The Conservative petition is at http://www.streathamconservatives.com/index.php?sectionid=3&pagenumber=91 The Green Party candidate has also been campaigning on the issue. There was a cross-party photo call outside the rink on 23rd November to emphasise that all parties agree on this issue, and mark the achievement of a combined total of over 3500 signatures. You can see a picture here. Back to Top of Page Public meeting about Streatham HubThe public meeting organised by Streatham Action (the successor to the Streatham Forum) took place on Thursday 8th October 2009. Lambeth were represented by Lib Peck (Cabinet Lead for Housing and Regeneration) and Jo Negrini (Division Director, Regeneration). Tesco were represented by Eoin Dardis (Tesco Corporate Affairs) and Richard Bowen (Spenhill, a wholly owned regeneration subsidiary of Tesco). Robert Doyle, acting Chair of Streatham Action introduced the meeting with a useful summary of the history so far, up to November 2008 when the final planning permission was granted. Jo Negrini said that detailed design work in 2008 had led to tender packs being issued, but since the end of 2008 they had been working on how to make the scheme viable. With the changes in the economy, the fact that the scheme was using residential housing to fund public facilities needed to be reassessed. The key priority for the council was to make sure the scheme is built and to get on site as soon as possible. She said that Lambeth had received revised proposals in the last 2 weeks, and could not go into details of what these were. She recognised that this caused great frustration, said they would be in a better position to give information in 8 weeks time, and promised to do so at a further meeting. Lib Peck said the strong message from the political administration was that they were committed to the new leisure facility and recognised the importance of ice provision. Eoin Dardis said that Tesco also remain committed, and believe the scheme can work, but the economic downturn had forced revision of the proposals. He said that the revisions would not affect the ultimate delivery of the leisure centre and rink; they may look at the phasing but not change the end product. Both he and his colleague were new to the project, and could not answer questions such as why valid tenders at the end of 2008 had been rejected. The meeting was opened to questions and comments from the floor. The general consensus seemed to be that people were glad that the meeting had been held now rather than postponed. There was (as predicted) frustration about not having any information on the revisions, but people welcomed a chance to raise their concerns to representatives of both Lambeth and Tesco. Concerns raised included:
In response to a question, Lib Peck confirmed that the existing leisure centre will stay open in the interim. Concerns were raised about the management of the ice rink, which is not under council control. A strong message from the meeting to both Tesco and the Counciil was that the commitment to continuity of ice provision had been essential to obtain buy-in to the scheme, and any weakening of this commitment would face fierce opposition from all sides. Back to Top of Page SLP article about further delay to Hub projectThis article was published in the South London Press, Friday 6th March 2009, Business news (page 10). I will replace this quoted text with a link if the article appears on the SLP website. Tesco accused of 'stalling' over Hub projectFresh doubt has been cast over the future of a multimillion-pound regeneration scheme. Labour-run Lambeth council has confirmed a major project to create a new ice rink, leiusure centre and housing development in Streatham has run into difficulties, again. Work was due to start on the controversial Streatham Hub development in May. But it has now emerged that the council's development partner Tesco plans to re-tender the building contract - which also includes a new supermarket. The Hub scheme has been dogged with hold-ups and on Wednesday, Lambeth council leader, Labour Councillor Steve Reed criticised Tesco over its handling of the project. He told a breakfast meeting of business people in Streatham: "Tesco, quite frustratingly, keep stalling it for different reasons. I'm seeking a high level meeting with Tesco, because they are not being the kind of partner we would have hoped they would be. I need them to start taking seriously the urgent need to start moving." The council's leader's strong words are believed to be the first time he has publicly criticised Tesco over delays to the massive regeneration project. The estimated cost of the scheme - which will be funded by Tesco and Lambeth - is somewhere between £65 to £100million., although neither the council or supermarket giant have ever made the full financial details of the plan public. It is understood that Lambeth's contribution to the scheme has been capped at £20million. Opposition councillors claim the scheme could be in jeopardy. Opposition Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Ashley Lumsden said "This key project is essential not just for the survival of swimming and skating in Streatham, but for Streatham itself. We do not want the Streatham Hub scheme to fall victim to the recession. A new Leisure Centre for Streatham could be a beacon of hope in the dark days that lie ahead and spearhead Streatham's fight back." A spokesman for Tesco said: "We are still very committed to the project and it is unfortunate that we have had to re-tender. We are determined to make sure it goes ahead working in partnership with Lambeth council." Back to Top of Page Streatham ice dancers selected for World ChampionshipStreatham ice dancers Phillipa Towler-Green and Phillip Poole have been selected to skate for Britain at this year's World Figure Skating Championships (March 22nd-29th 2009, Los Angeles). There is an article about them in the Streatham Guardian here Back to Top of Page Revised plans get consentThe revised plans, including the temporary bus garage, gained planning consent at a meeting of the Planning Applications Committee on 11th November 2008. To see the officers' report and minutes of the meeting go to http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/Services/CouncilDemocracy Click on 'Calendar of meetings' on the right hand side. Fnnd 11th November. Click on the link for 'Planning Applications Committee 1 11/11' Back to Top of Page For older news see Campaign News - Archive W |
Page last updated: 28th July 2010