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For the most recent news see Campaign News. For the previous section of the archive see Campaign News - Archive V. See below for news on:Planning applications appproved on 2nd February 2011 (updated 09.07.11) Planning application for temporary extra parking submitted (added 22.12.10) SISAG response to application to vary Section 106 Agreement (added 12.12.10) Planning application to vary Section 106 Agreement submitted (updated 22.12.10) SISAG response to temporary rink application (added 08.11.10) Temporary rink planning application submitted (updated 30.10.10) Streatham Hub Exbition open till 17th October 2010 (updated 05.10.10) Chuka Umunna MP's view on the temporary rink (added 09.10.10) Tesco planning application for mezzanine floor (updated 09.10.10) Ice Rink coverage on BBC London 5th August 2010 (added 06.08.10) Temporary ice site approved by Lambeth Cabinet 26th July 2010 (updated 01.08.10) Update from Future Streatham announcing Cabinet report (updated 01.08.10) 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) For the next section see Campaign News - Archive XPlanning applications approved on 2nd February 2011The three planning applications for
were approved by Lambeth Planning Applications Committee on 2nd February 2011. The reports and minutes for the meeting are available on the Lambeth website here. To view the applications themselves online, see instructions here. The meeting was very vocal, with many contributions from groups and individuals, and went on until nearly 1am! At the end all three applications were approved by the Committee with some changes and additions to the conditions. One of the changes was to require the draft Section 106 agreement to be published on the Lambeth website. This happened in June 2011, see above. In response to expressions of concern that the temporary rink operating hours (7am to 11pm in the application), while adequate for public opening, were insufficient for sports development, the officers said there was a mechanism to extend the operating hours to allow for the training sessions as they are at the existing rink, without a separate application. One of the conditions is for a parking management plan to come back for approval. It appears this will include special reserved use of the temporary rink car park for the Werewolves disabled hockey sessions, in response to presentation of their specific difficulties to the Committee by a number of speakers. Back to Top of Page Planning application for temporary extra parking submittedAs part of trying to provide substitute parking for Brixton town centre to replace the Pope's Road car park, where the temporary rink is planned, Lambeth Parking Services have applied to put a temporary car park of 33 spaces, for a period of three years, on a site at the corner of Porden Road and Buckner Road SW2 5SA. The application reference is 10/04174/FUL. The expiry date for consultation is 7th January 2011. This site is just south of Lambeth Town Hall and the Fridge, about 600 metres from the temporary rink site. We looked through the documents to find information relevant to potential users of the temporary rink, about operating hours, maximum length of stay, and pricing. The following is from the "Electrical Design Pack" document: The proposed opening hours for the new car park will be 7am to 11pm, 7 days a week, with a maximum stay of 4 hours. The proposed charge will be £2 per hour, to be collected by use of a pay and display machine... The Parking Contractor ... will close the gates by 11pm to prevent overnight parking. To view the application online, see instructions here. You can comment on the application online using the 'Submit comments' button,
by email to
Back to Top of Page SISAG response to application to vary Section 106 AgreementThis is the response we have sent. To respond yourself, see instructions below Application to vary the Section 106 (legal) Agreement dated 4 December 2008
This response to the consultation letter is from Streatham Ice Skating Action Group, which is a local interest group whose main aim is to preserve ice-skating in Streatham and ensure continuity of ice provision The original planning consent guaranteed continuity of ice by keeping the existing rink open
until the new permanent rink was open. This application seeks to remove the clauses requiring
continuity of ice provision on site. It is crucial that the changes retain the full commitment
to continuity, despite it occurring off-site. As stated in our response to the Pope’s Road application
(10/03425/FUL), we are prepared to accept the temporary rink, but only if there are robust conditions
in the revised Section 106 agreement to ensure We were told that this application could not be submitted until some weeks after the application for the temporary ice rink to allow for negotiations as to the drafting, and so were expecting the application to include the actual wording of the agreement, at least in key areas such as continuity of ice provision. This was not available, and the associated document “Schedule of Variations Required to Section 106 Agreement” appears to have been written much earlier in the process. It contains phrasing such as (Sch 6 para 4) “Query whether Council still expects continuity of ice even though temporary facility may be off site. Need to explore Council's and Tesco's expectations in this regard especially if Tesco expects the obtaining of permission for a temporary facility to be at the Council's risk”. It is very alarming to see this uncertainty in the documents attached to the application. Surely the Council needs to have confirmed the commitment to, and definition of, continuity of ice with Tesco, before considering this substantial change in the original permission. The current wording does not reaffirm the general commitment in full, nor does it contain sufficiently detailed and explicit clauses setting out how continuity of ice will be provided in these new circumstances.
The description of the application does state explicitly that
However, there is no similar explicit statement of two other essential points: We ask the Committee to make the granting of permission subject to these two conditions being included.
Back to Top of Page Planning application to vary Section 106 Agreement submittedThe planning application to vary the Section 106 Agreement for the Streatham Hub development is now avalable to view online and open for consultation. The reference is 10/04049/S106.To view it online, see the instructions here. This application is necessary because the current proposal is to use an off-site temporary rink to provide continuity of ice provision and the agreement has to be changed to allow this. The description is: Application to vary the Section 106 (legal) Agreement dated 4 December 2008 in respect of planning permission 08/03477/FUL to allow for the: Removal of the clauses requiring continuity of ice provision on site; Provision of a temporary ice facility in Pope's Road, Brixton whilst the Existing ice rink is demolished and the Hub scheme is built out in one phase; and the Temporary ice facility would remain open until the new permanent leisure centre (including the replacement ice rink) is built out and handed over to the Council. Comments need to be submitted by 16th December 2010. We understand the application will be considered at the same planning committee meeting as the application for the temporary rink. 2nd February 2011 has been identified as a potential date for this meeting. Back to Top of Page SISAG response to temporary rink applicationThis is the response we have sent. To respond yourself, see instructions below Temporary ice rink at Pope's Road We have been campaigning for continuity of ice skating provision in Streatham since Tesco bought the ice rink site in 2001. We were disappointed that the scheme agreed in 2008, where the existing ice rink would have remained open until the replacement was open, did not go ahead. When it became clear that the only option was to accept a temporary rink, we would have much preferred a site in Streatham. The proposed Brixton site will cause inconvenience to many current users of the rink and serious problems for some, but Lambeth Council have made it clear that a temporary rink in Pope's Road is the only way that the development of the permanent leisure centre is going to go ahead with continuity of ice in the meantime. On these grounds we are prepared to support the application, because we believe the alternative, where the permanent leisure centre and ice rink remain stalled for the forseeable future, would be worse. The temporary ice rink plan seems to make reasonable use of the limited space available. As expected, there is very restricted parking, and it will be important to make sure the spaces are managed so that those staff and rink users with most need are accommodated, and the parking cannot be used other than for the rink.
Our acceptance of this scheme only makes sense if there are robust conditions in the
revised Section 106 agreement for the Streatham Hub site to ensure Back to Top of Page Temporary rink planning application submittedThe planning application for the temporary ice rink has been submitted and is now online to view, as well as at the Town Planning Office and Brixton Library. The reference is 10/03425/FUL To view it online, see the instructions here. The consultation period is open with a deadline of 12th November. Since this application only makes sense for us as a means of delivering the permanent replacement ice rink in Streatham, it is important to ensure there will be continuity of ice and the Tesco store will not be allowed to open before the permanent rink is open. These conditions are expected in the forthcoming application to vary the section 106 agreement for the Streatham Hub development. We are hoping it will be possible to see that second application before 12th November so that we can comment on both applications together. Back to Top of Page Streatham Hub Exbition open till 17th October 2010The exhibition of the latest plans is on from Tuesday 28 September until Sunday 17 October at Streatham Library. It includes
The layout is displayed on the lower half of the boards, so is a bit difficult to see closely, but we have been told there will be another copy available at the library reception. There is a feedback form for comments. There is an online version of the exhibition at http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/streathamhub (opens in new window). We all hoped that the temporary rink would be in Streatham - the proposed Brixton site will cause inconvenience to many current users of the rink and serious problems for some, but Lambeth Council have made it clear that a temporary rink in Pope's Road is the only way that the development of the permanent leisure centre is going to go ahead with continuity of ice in the meantime. We therefore need to try to make sure the temporary rink layout makes the best use of the limited space available. If you can, please go in person or look online and form your own impression. On the Lambeth website there is also a new Streatham Hub Newsletter. For more information visit http://www.lambeth.gov.uk/futurestreatham
Back to Top of Page Chuka Umunna MP's view on the temporary rinkStreatham MP Chuka Umunna has written a piece about the temporary ice provision here. Back to Top of Page Tesco planning application for mezzanine floorTesco’s planning application for a mezzanine floor as part of their new store within the Streatham Hub development will be considered by the Lambeth Planning Applications Committee on Tuesday 12th October 2010. The report and papers for the meeting are here. The reference number for the planning application is 10/02434/FUL and you can view the plans online at http://planning.lambeth.gov.uk/publicaccess/. Note that this is not the application for the temporary ice rink. It is the application for adding the mezzanine within the store that already has planning permission. The separate applications for the temporary ice rink and the deed of variation of the original Hub section 106 agreement to allow them to provide continuity of ice off-site are to be considered together at a future meeting. Back to Top of Page Ice Rink coverage on BBC London 5th August 2010There was an item on BBC London 94.9 about the Hub development and the relocation of the temporary ice rink in Brixton on Thursday 5th August. The item is available on BBC iPlayer here. An associated text article is here. At the bottom of this article is a nice link In pictures: Skating in Streatham showing a series of historical photographs.
Back to Top of Page Temporary ice site approved by 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. The minutes of the meeting are here. At the meeting, the Cabinet agreed to Pope's Road Car Park in Brixton as the recommended temporary ice rink site. 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. This commitment is recorded in the minutes (page 8): "Cabinet Members confirmed that the Tesco store would not be able to open until the leisure facilities had been completed." Resolutions approved at Cabinet:
The e-update after the Cabinet meeting is at Future Streatham e-update 30th July 2010 Back to Top of Page Update from Future Streatham announcing Cabinet reportThe e-update announcing the Cabinet report (see item above) is at Future Streatham e-update 16th July 2010 Back to Top of Page Streatham Hub Public Meeting on 22nd July 2010There 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
This was covered in a short item in the 15th June 2010 edition of Lambeth Life at Lambeth Life Latest Edition (see page 2). The Streatham Hub page on Lambeth's website has also been updated to match. 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 For older news see Campaign News - Archive X |
Page last updated: 9th July 2011