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See below for news on:Tesco protest extended for 3 more Saturdays (updated 27.02.10) 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) Tesco exhibition for residents (updated.19.10.08) Revisions to plan mean shorter development time (updated 05.10.08) 6 month feasibility study complete (added 14.06.08) 6 month feasibility study complete (added 14.06.08) Streatham medallists at British Championships Jan 2008 (added 15.01.08) Section 106 and Development Agreement signed (updated 18.12.07) Section 106 and Development Agreement agreed (updated 08.11.07) Hub update at Council meeting 4th July 2007 (updated 22.07.07) SPAM emails from SISAG domain (added 25.05.07) Public meetings for Leisure Centre users 8th May 2007 (updated 13.05.07) For older news see Campaign News - Archive XTesco 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 have arranged to continue the protest for the next three weekends meeting at 11AM on Saturdays. All are invited. There is a photo and 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 Tesco exhibition for residentsIn connection with the revised planning application, Tesco held an exhibiton to offer residents living in adjacent roads an update on the changes to the Streatham Hub proposals on 4th October 2008. The display boards from the exhibition are here (3.9Mb - opens in new window) Tesco believes that nearby residents, particularly those in Natal Road and Ellora Road, will benefit from changes to access and design. Back to Top of Page Revisions to plan mean shorter development timeAn update from the "Future Streatham" team at Lambeth on 19th September 2008 says: Plans to transform leisure facilities in Streatham have taken another step closer. The developer, Tesco, has submitted revisions to the original planning application of 2005 that will mean the whole scheme, including new housing, could be complete a year earlier than planned. Revised plans include the proposal to provide a temporary bus garage. This means the swimming pool will need to close for less time than previously thought, while the new leisure centre could open slightly earlier than planned. Estimates suggest the swimming pool would close in Autumn 2010 and the new leisure centre could open Summer 2011. The existing ice rink will remain open until the new ice rink is ready to use. The announcement of the revised planning application was in the South London Press on 26th September. The main reference for the new planning application is 08/03477/FUL. The description is: 1) Variation of conditions attached to planning permission ref 02/02557/FUL for the redevelopment of the site to provide a leisure complex (ice rink, swimming pool, health and fitness facilities and community uses), 250 residential units, including affordable housing, a retail store, bus lay-over, public square together with associated car parking and servicing. 08/03477/FUL 2) Temporary change of use for a period of 4 years to bus stand facility and associated and ancillary development including welfare and mess room. Construction of retaining walls at boundaries and creation of hard standing in all other areas. Proposal also requires the demolition of the former Sunday school. 08/03455/FUL 3) Demolition of existing buildings on site, including the ice rink and swimming pool buildings to allow redevelopment of the site to include leisure, retail and residential uses. 08/3457/CON Demolition of former Sunday School building attached to United Reform Church, to allow redevelopment of the site to include leisure, retail and residential uses. 08/03454/LB A document giving an overview of the application is here. The details can be viewed at the Planning Advice Centre, Phoenix House, 10 Wandsworth Road, SW8 2LL weekdays from 9.30 am to 4.40 pm for 21 days from the publication of the notice (i.e. until Friday 17th October) or at Streatham Tate Library during normal opening hours. Written comments should be made within this period to the Director of Planning at the same Phoenix House address. The application (and facility for comments) is also available online at the Lambeth Public Access for Planning Database To see the application 1. Click on "Application Search" on the left. A form is displayed. 2. Enter the reference 08/03477/FUL in the Application Reference field. 3. Click the "Search" button at the bottom. 4. When the application is displayed, click the "Click to View" arrow on the right. 5. The information is displayed under several tabs. The documents are available on the "Associated Documents" tab. At the top there is a button "Submit comments ..." which leads to another form to submit comments. Back to Top of Page 6 month feasibility study completeAfter the signing of the Section 106 and Devlepment Agreement by Lambeth Council and Tesco on 7th December 2007 there was a six-month period for a feasibility study. This has now finished and the scheme moves on to the next stage, in which Tesco will invite contractors to tender for the scheme. Building could start in early 2009, though workers will be on site earlier carrying out preliminary work. Lambeth's official press release is here Back to Top of Page Streatham medallists at British Championships 2008At the British Ice Figure and Synchro Skating Championships in Sheffield, Streatham ice dancers Phillipa Towler-Green and Phillip Poole won silver medals in the Senior Ice Dance category. Pippa and Phillip now go on to compete for Britain alongside Sinead and John Kerr at next week's European Championships in Zagreb, Croatia. This event will be televised on Eurosport (22nd-27th Jan). We are not sure yet if there will be any terrestrial TV coverage. In the younger age range, Melissa Chan and Tobias Wallis also won silver medals in the Novice Ice Dance category. Congratulations to the Streatham skaters. Back to Top of Page Section 106 and Development Agreement signedLambeth Planning department have confirmed that the Section 106 and Development agreement were signed on 7th December 2007 and the planning permission issued. Now the contract has been signed a contractor can be selected and work can begin. As reported in the South London Press (14th December) Cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise councillor Paul McGlone said: "As with any complex project, there is still some way to go before things start happening on the ground. But progress is being made and we continue to pass major milestones on our way to completing this project." One of the reasons this is a major milestone is because the Section 106 is the document containing the clauses guaranteeing continuity of ice skating provision. Lambeth's official press release is here Back to Top of Page Section 106 and Development Agreement exchangedThe Section 106 and Development agreement were agreed by Lambeth Council and Tesco on 11th October 2007. The agreements are not yet "sealed". It is hoped that both this step and the issuing of planning permission will occur during November 2007 The information about the documents being agreed is contained in a written answer to a question to the full Council meeting on 7th November 2007. The relevant question and answer are below. The pdf document containing the written answer 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 11th November for the Council meeting and click on the link. By: Councillor Dave Malley (17.10.07) To: Councillor Paul McGlone, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise Streatham Hub Can you advise what action you have taken to ensure that the Streatham hub ice rink and swimming pool development is successfully delivered within a reasonable timeframe Party: Labour Answer: Whilst responsibility for the Streatham Hub Scheme delivery rests with Tesco, the Council retains the right to closely monitor the scheme. As a result, the scheme’s contract will be actively managed by the Physical Regeneration Team, which will report to the Future Lambeth Programme Board on a monthly basis as well as oversight by the relevant Cabinet members. The Physical Regeneration Team is currently mobilising a team for this project and together with Leisure Services is currently working with Tesco to progress the final stages of design development of the leisure centre and ice rink. By way of background, on 11th October 2007, Tesco and the Council agreed the Section 106 and the Development Agreement. The Section 106 defines the benefit to be derived from the Streatham Hub scheme, whereas the Development Agreement defines how and when the benefits will be delivered. The two documents sit alongside each other. Once planning permission has been granted, the Development Agreement’s commencement is triggered. From this date there is up to 12 months of activities before we will see works on site. The developer has six months within which it can determine the agreement (i.e. to proceed or not). This six month period is referred to as the feasibility review period, and allows Tesco to review the scheme’s design and costs and finalise all outstanding land issues. Following the six month period, there is a further 30 week period before an “unconditional date” is reached. This period is to allow final tenders to be reviewed and for the final development costs to be determined. Both the Council and Tesco can determine the scheme by the unconditional date. The Council could decide to not proceed with the development with no liability for abortive costs. The construction period, capped at 130 weeks, commences on the “unconditional date”. The order of development is clearly outlined in the Development Agreement as follows:
Clearer dates cannot be provided until the planning permission is issued, as the date of issue sets the base date, but following planning permission, the completion of the scheme will be no longer than 187 weeks (Up to 57 for feasibility review and determination of final development costs and up to 130 for construction). If approval is issued shortly, as hoped, and the scheme progresses to plan then the Leisure Centre will open in 2010, 12 months before the overall scheme completion. Back to Top of Page Hub update at Council meeting 4th July 2007Councillor Julian Heather put down a question asking for an update on the Streatham Hub development to the full Council meeting on 4th July 2007. A written answer was published in the week before the meeting. The relevant question and answer are below. In reply to a supplementary question at the meeting, the Council's commitment to continuity of skating was reconfirmed. The pdf document containing the written answer is here and the supplementary question and answer are contained in 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 4th July for the Council meeting and click on the link. By: Councillor Julian Heather (13.06.07) To: Councillor Paul McGlone, Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise Streatham Hub Progress Report In the light of the abolition of the Streatham Area Committee, which received updates at each meeting of progress on the Streatham Hub Development, would the Cabinet Member for regeneration provide an update on what progress has been made since the last Streatham Area Committee held on 25th April on taking forward the Streatham Hub development and give an indication of the key delivery timescales Party: Liberal Democrat Answer: The technical review of the complete Streatham Hub Scheme has been completed and the guide price for the overall development reduced to a level acceptable to Tesco. The first 3 months of the planned ‘review period’ in the scheme has been complete. This represents the period during which Tesco could have unilaterally withdrawn because the scheme couldn’t be made to be ‘financially’ viable. The feasibility of the scheme has been tested and reviewed during this period. As a consequence the phasing of the various buildings and the exchange of property has had to be altered. Subsequently we have had to bring the Section 106 and the Development Agreement in line with the revised building schedule. This has been completed however we are awaiting a ‘letter of assurance’ from Tesco regarding the critical path in the building programme before the Executive Directors can reasonably sign off the Delegated Decision and the documents can be exchanged. On the 15th of June the 6 month development and procurement phase of the project began regardless of the exchange of documents. The first meeting of the Technical Review Group concerning the Leisure Centre will take place on the afternoon of the 21st of June. A new team of Canadian engineers expert in Ice Arenas - is now involved and the Project Team have completed a series of visits to sites in the UK . This in order to ensure a greatly increased awareness of the issues associated with:
If there are revisions to the floor layouts these will be tested upon the Streatham Stakeholders Technical Group and the Council’s new Leisure Contractor Greenwich Leisure Ltd. Other than for the exchange of documents all other factors are progressing according to the revised critical path for the project that was included in the last report to the Area Committee. Supplementary Question Can assurance be given that there will be continuity of skating while the new centre is being built and before it opens? Supplementary Answer This was a cross-party supported scheme. It had been made clear to Tesco that certain elements were non-negotiable and the continuity of skating was one of these. Once the commercial sensitivities were concluded full information would be given to local stakeholders, councillors and the public. Streatham was considered to be a key part of this borough. Back to Top of Page SPAM emails from SISAG domainStarting on 23rd May 2007 some spam emails were sent from fictitious addresses appearing to come from the sisag.org.uk domain. If you are looking at this website because you have received such an email please delete it. We apologise for the inconvenience but this is beyond our control - it is unfortunately easy for people to 'fake' from-addresses on emails. SISAG only sends out solicited emails about Streatham Ice Rink and the Streatham Hub development. Back to Top of Page Public meetings for Leisure Centre users 8th May 2007Two public meetings organised by Lambeth Council and Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) for users of the existing Streatham Leisure Centre were held on Tuesday 8th May 2007. Lambeth's announcement is here Back to Top of Page For older news see Campaign News - Archive X |
Page last updated: 27th February 2010