The building of the Streatham Hub has been fraught with delays since its inception more than 10 years ago.
History
Tesco Plc (“Tesco”) purchased the site where Streatham Ice Rink is currently situated almost a decade ago. In June 2001 the retailer published plans to demolish the Ice Rink – these were abandoned following strong opposition from local user groups, community and voluntary organisations.
New plans were approved by Lambeth Council (the “Council”) in February 2003 with a Section 106 Agreement associated with the scheme – which has become known as the ‘Streatham Hub’ – being concluded between the Council and Tesco in December 2007.
Under the agreement the development was set to provide new leisure facilities, a new supermarket and 250 new homes for the Streatham area where Streatham Ice Arena is currently located. There would also be a new transport hub linking road and rail. The Council said that as part of the deal Tesco would not be allowed to open its supermarket until the new leisure centre and ice rink open. Planning consent was granted to Tesco on this basis in December 2007.
In 2009 Tesco indicated to the Council that it wished to revise the scheme on account of economic conditions which it said meant the 2007 plans were no longer financially viable. With respect to their revised proposals, residents were alarmed when in October 2009 representatives from Tesco refused to guarantee that it would be able to ensure continuity of ice pending the development being completed (under the original plans the old ice rink would only close once the new ice rink opened, thus ensuring continuity of ice). Continuous ice provision is essential for the many user groups of the ice rink including Olympian skaters and the famous Streatham Redskins ice hockey team.
Keep Streatham Skating
In October 2009 I established a cross party coalition to campaign for continuity of ice to be retained following the public meeting that month. Various online and off line petitions, and a Facebook group, were established which thousands of residents signed. Following this campaign, Tesco and Lambeth came forward with revised proposals under which the old ice rink would close before the new one opened but temporary ice provision paid for by Tesco would be put in its place somewhere near by.
The revised proposals were approved by the Tesco Plc board in March 2010. This approval was of some significance since on the last two occasions when the scheme had gone to the Tesco Board for approval, no approval had been forthcoming; on this occasion the scheme was promoted by the Chief Executive himself and given Board approval.
Hands Off Our Common
As part of the revised proposals, the option of putting a temporary ice rink on Streatham Common whilst the new rink is built was discussed and considered. However, whilst many of the user groups of the ice rink were supportive of this plan given its close proximity to the current ice rink site, regular users of Streatham Common were deeply opposed and a campaign – Hands Off Our Common (HOOC) – was established in May 2010 to reject the revised proposals. Groups involved with HOOC included Sustainable Streatham, Streatham Action, Friends of Streatham Common and the Streatham Society.
The campaign was successful and on 26 July 2010 Lambeth Council’s cabinet resolved not to place the temporary ice skating provision on Streatham Common following a report from Council officers citing legal obstacles, practical difficulties and the likely extensive delay resulting from implementation, as the main reasons for not pursuing this: Report to Cabinet, 26 July 2010.
Instead the Council officers’ report recommended that the temporary ice skating provision be placed at Pope’s Road in Brixton, one of 14 options considered by the Council. The officers’ paper lists the advantages and disadvantages of Pope’s Road as follows:
Advantages
• In Council ownership
• Site to be demolished and will be in vacant possession shortly.
• Site large enough
• Good accessibility
• Good public transport links
• Viability of town centre would be enhanced
Disadvantages
• Could raise objections among market traders if temporary car park not provided.
• Loss of car parking for market traders, but can be mitigated by relocating elsewhere on site.
• Possible community safety concerns.
• Opportunity cost to Council for delaying its redevelopment of the site.
The timetable for completion of the entire Streatham Hub scheme envisages the temporary ice rink being opened at Pope’s Road towards the end of 2011 and the new ice rink (along with the supermarket etc) being completed in the summer of 2013.
Some stakeholders who use the ice rink support siting the temporary provision at Pope’s Road so long as Tesco are not permitted to open their supermarket before completion of the new ice rink and the other leisure facilities – this was the view presented to Lambeth’s cabinet on 26 July 2010 by the Secretary of Streatham Ice Skating Action Group. SISAG’s members include representatives of the dance club, figure skating club and hockey clubs who use the current ice rink. In response Council cabinet members confirmed that the Tesco store would not be allowed to open until the leisure facilities had been completed.
Save Skating in Streatham
Some users of the ice rink and local councillors have voiced great concern about the temporary provision being situated out of Streatham and formed a campaign: Save Skating in Streatham (SSS). They worry the ice rink will never return to Streatham and have considerable concerns about community safety, access and parking at the Pope’s Road site. Their petition (which has been signed by 335 people at the time of writing) is here, their Facebook page is here, and their recent letter to me is here. They argued that a site at Stockport Road should be considered but the campaign is now focused on enforcement of original section 106 Agreement under which it was agreed the old ice rink would stay in situ until the new ice rink opens.
I should mention that the Brixton Market Traders’ Association also oppose the temporary ice provision being placed at Pope’s Road – they argued at the 26 July 2010 cabinet meeting that the space could instead provide much needed parking facilities for Brixton Market customers.
My thoughts
Firstly, I should state that, as the Member of Parliament for Streatham, I have no legal power to affect this situation nor am I a party or signatory to any of the agreements between Tesco and the Council – it would be misleading for me to claim otherwise. My role – as an advocate for the area – is to ensure that as many of the voices and concerns of the community as possible are heard when decisions are made.
Secondly, there are a range of stakeholders with an interest in this development but – as the history of the project has demonstrated – those interests are not necessarily aligned and, even within the different groups concerned, there is a diversity of views too; I know this because I have spent much time consulting with all of them. For example, some ice rink user groups are happy to accept Pope’s Road as a temporary solution; others are not. Unfortunately this is not a project that will complete to the satisfaction of all involved – a degree of compromise on everyone’s part will be required.
That said, all are agreed on the principle that we all want to see the Streatham Hub completed as soon as possible, so that we can benefit from the fantastic leisure provision which it will provide, employment opportunities and new homes. My priority has always been to see the project completed as quickly as possible with this aim in mind whilst ensuring that, at the very least, there is ice provision for the current users of the ice rink in the interim.
Thirdly, the original s106 Agreement – agreed in 2007 – will be varied by Deed of Variation (if it has not been already) to allow for the revised 2010 plans to proceed. This is because Tesco would not agree to develop the Hub on the basis agreed in 2007, citing current economic conditions and commercial viability. I voiced some scepticism of their arguments in this regard given its pre-tax profits increased during the recession but their position remains unchanged. It is for this reason that Tesco paying for temporary provision pending completion of the scheme was agreed upon this year. There has always been a possibility that, should Tesco not deem the scheme commercially viable, they would walk away from the Hub project altogether leaving the future of ice skating in Streatham in peril – thankfully we did not reach this point. So whilst I have great sympathy with the SSS campaign objective to enforce the original s106 Agreement, I do not see how this can be done given what has come to pass and Tesco’s position. A lot has happened since the original 2007 agreement was concluded and I do not think we can wind the clock back (so to speak).
However, this does not mean that I am entirely happy with the Pope’s Road solution that has been proposed as things stand. It is vital that the concerns raised in relation to parking, community safety, spectator accommodation and transport are addressed ahead of the erection of the temporary provision. I understand that ice skating user groups met with Council officers yesterday and that progress towards the resolution of some of these issues has progressed.
Between now and the construction of the temporary provision at the end of next year, I will do all I can to demand that these issues are resolved. I met with Council officers and cabinet members during the summer with this is mind and I have written to Council officers for an update on progress in this regard which I will publish on this website in due course. I have also spoken with my colleague, Tessa Jowell MP, in relation to the concerns raised by the Market Traders Association of Brixton Market which is located in her constituency.
Finally, I am aware that the user groups of Streatham Swimming Pool feel that their concerns in relation to swimming provision in the vicinity have been overlooked somewhat given the focus on the ice rink. I was a frequent user of the pool myself as a child as I often competed there as a competitive swimmer. It is totally unsatisfactory that my constituents have been having to travel some distance in order to be able to continue to swim on a regular basis. This is an issue I have raised with the Council but my office will be seeking to arrange a meeting between myself and the stakeholder group for Streatham Swimming Pool imminently to see what further needs to be done.
If you wish to contact me further on this issue, please write to me at my constituency office or email me – contact details are here.
Kind regards,
Chuka
Below is an update on the Streatham Hub project which has been distributed to local residents by developers Vinci Construction:
Recently, Chuka visited Streatham Delivery Office on Prentis Road. He met with staff and Communications Workers Union (CWU) representatives and found out more about the office’s work in delivering thousands of pieces of mail every day locally.
Tesco has launched a new website on the Streatham Hub development, designed to keep the public informed and enabling people to submit queries about the project. 
Lambeth has published its report on the current situation with the Streatham Hub project in advance of its cabinet meeting later this month – it is 
