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Brixton Rec - demolition proposed by council

Manter said:
It was very chaotic at times. And found myself in the very odd position of feeling sorry for Lib Peck....

Gramsci's intervention was calm, rational and compelling, and precipitated the verbal assurance. Which was being videoed by the guy stood next to me....
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After about 15 or 20 minutes of the meeting Lib Peck, Sally Prentice and the officers in the front row looked visibly shocked and shaken at the anger in the room. They apologised for failing to consult Rec users earlier on. An early question to Lib Peck asked whether she could rule out knocking down the Rec. She danced around the question for a bit and talked about the various consultations, investment, developer interest etc etc - 'context setting' if you like. People didn't have much patience for this approach and there was a lot of shouting and anger. It was a difficult meeting, but the feeling of residents was clear. Gramsci made the point that the core strategy and Future Brixton Masterplan both included retention of the Rec, so would the council honour this and write it into the SPD? It was in response to this that Lib Peck said the strength of feeling in the room means there is too much [feeling] to really ever get the space to think about closing the Rec. I am now going to say categorically we will keep the Rec.”

A well timed intervention if I ever saw one.

I now want to see this commitment in writing in the SPD which goes for formal consultation in the new year.

Lib Peck earlier in the meeting said the timetable has slipped a bit and that the SPD consultation will probably be out in February. I guess Council Officers - who were sitting silently in the front row staring into their iPads, ears burning - will now be getting onto a hasty rewrite of the draft SPD.

I think this is also an important development in the wider planning/development process in Brixton. Lib Peck said - as we suspected - that there is significant developer interest in Brixton. Residents have clearly made their views known on this issue. The draft SPD will detail further 'development opportunities' and it will crucial the community has its say on those issues too. We need to stay engaged in this...

I did wonder whether - with LP in charge of the Council instead of Steve Reed - whether this might mark the start of a more 'honest' execution of the 'cooperative council' principle of listening to residents. We can only hope....
 
Sorry I missed the meeting - turning up was required, as strength in numbers was clearly the winning factor. And it would have been a bonus to see some urbz in the flesh. But I was too frazzled. :( Well done everyone for all your efforts, seems they really have paid off.

I think this calls for champagne - so it's all round to Manter's. :D
 
Great news, and well done to everyone who went (especially Gramsci it seems).

Brixton Hatter said:
After about 15 or 20 minutes of the meeting Lib Peck, Sally Prentice and the officers in the front row looked visibly shocked and shaken at the anger in the room.
Click to expand...

Interesting that it took a face-to-face meeting for them to clock this - did you get the imnpression that they had paid any attention at all to the online protests?
 
Winot said:
Great news, and well done to everyone who went (especially Gramsci it seems).



Interesting that it took a face-to-face meeting for them to clock this - did you get the imnpression that they had paid any attention at all to the online protests?
Click to expand...
One of the councillors stopped to talk to me and the lady I was with- called Rachel, in lilac coat? She does the portfolio that includes families and children and she said that she and some of her colleagues have been raising issues for the last few months and didn't feel it had become clear until they were in the room- she felt it was great that they had heard the emotion live in the room. So it sounds like it was easy to distance themselves when it was just reports and emails etc.

One thing they were asking for but didn't really get is ideas of how the rec can be improved. How they go about engaging with the user group and wider Brixton residents will be, I think, critical to our establishing whether they are acting in good faith.
 
Something tells me that this isn't going to be all over quite yet. Just a hunch. But those developer johnnies, chequebook in hand and lawyers in tow, can be even more persuasive than a roomful of angry citizens, and politicians' public promises are not known for being usually kept.
 
fortyplus said:
Something tells me that this isn't going to be all over quite yet. Just a hunch. But those developer johnnies, chequebook in hand and lawyers in tow, can be even more persuasive than a roomful of angry citizens, and politicians' public promises are not known for being usually kept.
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I suspect this will be quietly shelved now, but not sure the required upgrading and improvement will happen either- and them we will go round it all again in a few years
 
The BRUG needs to remain on the alert and find ways of increasing utilisation of the facilities. In the end, it's a numbers game; the more users the Rec has, the harder it will be to kill it.
 
Frumious B. said:
The BRUG needs to remain on the alert and find ways of increasing utilisation of the facilities. In the end, it's a numbers game; the more users the Rec has, the harder it will be to kill it.
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Someone mentioned last night that they should advertise the 'voids'- there are spaces that are very heavily used some nights and empty the others: and clubs looking for spaces....
They could also do with advertising the facilities- I know a couple of fellow capitalist parasites who had no idea there was a gym in the Rec that is cheaper and better than the one in Fitness First
 
yeah.. definite thanks to @Gramsci who seems to be really tireless with this sort of thing... it's easy to moan online but that level of dedication is hard to keep up - so thanks loads.

However, I agree that this is unlikely to be the end of this and if it doesn't happen now - I suspect next year, the year after... they will be dying to cash in and it's true we should remain vigilant - and also, as has been mentioned, there should be more investigation of how to exploit the facitilities there more and more. Although, I'm not sure how one would go about doing this ... presumably that's GLL's job?
 
Brixton Hatter said:
After about 15 or 20 minutes of the meeting Lib Peck, Sally Prentice and the officers in the front row looked visibly shocked and shaken at the anger in the room. They apologised for failing to consult Rec users earlier on. An early question to Lib Peck asked whether she could rule out knocking down the Rec. She danced around the question for a bit and talked about the various consultations, investment, developer interest etc etc - 'context setting' if you like. People didn't have much patience for this approach and there was a lot of shouting and anger. It was a difficult meeting, but the feeling of residents was clear. Gramsci made the point that the core strategy and Future Brixton Masterplan both included retention of the Rec, so would the council honour this and write it into the SPD? It was in response to this that Lib Peck said the strength of feeling in the room means there is too much [feeling] to really ever get the space to think about closing the Rec. I am now going to say categorically we will keep the Rec.”


I did wonder whether - with LP in charge of the Council instead of Steve Reed - whether this might mark the start of a more 'honest' execution of the 'cooperative council' principle of listening to residents. We can only hope....
Click to expand...

Thanks BH. Brixton Blog also picked up on what Cllr Lib Peck said as well. I was still unsure about what she said. I was trying to get a definitive answer. Had to ask twice. Not easy when you are up there asking the questions in a somewhat raucous meeting ( in a good way) to follow if your question has been answered.

The person who started it was the woman at the back who asked for for the Cllr Peck to say if the Rec was to be kept before we started talking about what we wanted to improve the Rec. She was spot on in her question. As talk about improvements would mean nothing without this question being answered.

She was not given a definitive answer despite her efforts. And the many interjections asking for a straight answer to the question. So I felt I better have a go as well.

Also good that there were so many people there. Some had to stand as there was no room. A good turnout.

I also felt that Cllr Peck, as leader of Council, might listen more than Reed would have had. Its not a weakness to listen then change ones mind imo. Didn't happen when the Tesco planning application for the Ice Rink on the car park site went through. Clearly all the Labour Cllrs had to take the same line on it.

Also credit should go to the BRUG committee who I know have spent a lot of there spare time organising the meetings, meeting Better/ GLL and the Cllrs. Otherwise this would have disappeared into the documents that few people read or know about. Also , unfortunately , emails are all very well but looks like it takes an angry face to face meeting to make an impression. Rational comments can only work after a lot of angry people making themselves heard.
 
gaijingirl said:
yeah.. definite thanks to @Gramsci who seems to be really tireless with this sort of thing... it's easy to moan online but that level of dedication is hard to keep up - so thanks loads.

However, I agree that this is unlikely to be the end of this and if it doesn't happen now - I suspect next year, the year after... they will be dying to cash in and it's true we should remain vigilant - and also, as has been mentioned, there should be more investigation of how to exploit the facitilities there more and more. Although, I'm not sure how one would go about doing this ... presumably that's GLL's job?
Click to expand...

The main element of my question was that the SPD needs to be written to protect the Rec. Otherwise another administration in the future might decide to knock it down and replace it somewhere else.

At the meeting it was said by Cllr Peck that the Council would work with GLL on improvements. Also I got the impression they would consult BRUG.
 
Manter said:
They could also do with advertising the facilities- I know a couple of fellow capitalist parasites who had no idea there was a gym in the Rec that is cheaper and better than the one in Fitness First
Click to expand...

Advertise in CityAM?:D

Good to meet u there Manter.:)
 
Gramsci said:
The main element of my question was that the SPD needs to be written to protect the Rec. Otherwise another administration in the future might decide to knock it down and replace it somewhere else.

At the meeting it was said by Cllr Peck that the Council would work with GLL on improvements. Also I got the impression they would consult BRUG.
Click to expand...

great.. and great it's all being documented too. I really hope that Cllr Peck will stick by her words and that the Rec will be safe for many years to come.
 
Winot said:
Great news, and well done to everyone who went (especially Gramsci it seems).

Interesting that it took a face-to-face meeting for them to clock this - did you get the imnpression that they had paid any attention at all to the online protests?
Click to expand...

I think Brixton Hatter is right that the Cllrs looked shaken. I hope online/ email makes a difference. But looks like it needs angry people shouting. Which there was a lot of at the meeting.

I was afraid at one point the whole meeting might just collapse.
 
I think it's all necessary and does make a difference... a lot of lurkers read these boards.. emails to cllrs lay foundations, word of mouth, people talking to each other (whether online or on the street) etc etc... it's thanks to all this kind of thing that there is an angry crowd there to be answered. Of course it's easy to turn your computer off - not so easy to silence a large group of angry people in person. :D
 
​
I got this Lambeth Council press release sent onto me:
​
​
​
​
Subject: New council leader pledges to improve Brixton Rec​
​
New council leader pledges to improve Brixton Rec​
​
Brixton Recreation Centre will remain on its current site and the council will seek funding to improve the existing facilities, the new leader elect of the council has confirmed this week.​
​
Cllr Lib Peck, Leader of Lambeth Council said this week that after listening to views from the community the council would seek to improve the existing building rather than look to build a new one.​
​
At a meeting of Brixton Recreation Centre Users’ Group on Monday night, Cllr Peck said that she would be instructing council officers to work up proposals to attract external funding to improve the current Brixton Recreation Centre so that access for disabled people could be improved and the building could be more energy efficient.​
​
Cllr Peck said: “There’s been a lot of speculation about the future of Brixton Rec and leisure facilities in the area. We have been clear from the start that our intention is to improve the quality and range of leisure facilities in the area and see whether there was an appetite from local people to see us explore the idea of a new leisure centre for Brixton at a different location. We would never seek to impose anything on the community that it didn’t want.​
​
“From the feedback we’ve received at meetings and via written correspondence it’s pretty clear that there is an enormous amount of affection for Brixton Recreation Centre and little desire to move facilities into a new building elsewhere.​
​
“The Rec is a treasured, landmark building and it’s part of the what makes Brixton so special and unique. What we want to do now is to work together with the community, both those who use the centre and those who currently don’t, and our partners GLL, to refurbish Brixton Rec to create a real legacy for the future and create a building the whole community can come together and enjoy.​
​
Cllr Peck added that the council would need to look carefully over the coming months to identify what funding was available to make the improvements required given the council’s challenging financial position. She said the council would work with the community to plan improvements and seek outside funding​
​
She added: “We are ambitious for Brixton – Brixton Recreation Centre needs improving, particularly so that it is more accessible for all our residents including disabled people and more people can benefit from the huge range of sporting activities which are run the from Rec. We also want to make sure we hear from people who don’t currently use the Rec about what improvements would encourage them to do start doing so.”​
​
Councillors and officers will be meeting Brixton Recreation Centre users group and the wider community of Brixton in the coming weeks to start discussions about how the Rec can be improved.​
​
​
 
The Lambeth Council press release does not say anything about the Brixton SPD so that will need to be followed to make sure the wording protects the Rec longterm.

Also the Rec is part of the Brixton Masterplan area. So imo it would also be necessary to look at the market car park/ ice rink site, International house, the Council estate nearby and Brixton Station Road as one whole. And involve BRUG and others in this. This is longterm planning.

The Brixton Masterplan and the recent Cooperative Council both see the local community as having an important role to play in future development of Brixton. This did not happen on the Town Hall site where officers developed a scheme with no involvement of local people. Except in a trivial way at the end.

So structures to do this need to be developed. Ive already said this at the SPD informal consultation. That something should be in SPD for Brixton about this.

So I think the Council officers should be instructed by Cllrs to do "open book" planning. That is informing people of what there ideas for a site are and who they are talking to. A lot of people at the meeting on Monday asked what the Councils "hidden agenda" was. Thats hardly surprising when wording about demolishing Rec suddenly appears in docs. The Council saying this was in response to people saying the entrance to Rec was dark did not wash. Neither did the Council saying they were being "green" and pro disability.
 
Manter said:
One of the councillors stopped to talk to me and the lady I was with- called Rachel, in lilac coat? She does the portfolio that includes families and children and she said that she and some of her colleagues have been raising issues for the last few months and didn't feel it had become clear until they were in the room- she felt it was great that they had heard the emotion live in the room. So it sounds like it was easy to distance themselves when it was just reports and emails etc.

One thing they were asking for but didn't really get is ideas of how the rec can be improved. How they go about engaging with the user group and wider Brixton residents will be, I think, critical to our establishing whether they are acting in good faith.
Click to expand...
Rachel Heywood is the councillor - she sat with Steadman the guy who teaches young kids to play football. Heywood is the only councillor who has the first clue or care about Brixton
 
Gramsci said:
Thanks BH. Brixton Blog also picked up on what Cllr Lib Peck said as well. I was still unsure about what she said. I was trying to get a definitive answer. Had to ask twice. Not easy when you are up there asking the questions in a somewhat raucous meeting ( in a good way) to follow if your question has been answered.

The person who started it was the woman at the back who asked for for the Cllr Peck to say if the Rec was to be kept before we started talking about what we wanted to improve the Rec. She was spot on in her question. As talk about improvements would mean nothing without this question being answered.

She was not given a definitive answer despite her efforts. And the many interjections asking for a straight answer to the question. So I felt I better have a go as well.

Also good that there were so many people there. Some had to stand as there was no room. A good turnout.

I also felt that Cllr Peck, as leader of Council, might listen more than Reed would have had. Its not a weakness to listen then change ones mind imo. Didn't happen when the Tesco planning application for the Ice Rink on the car park site went through. Clearly all the Labour Cllrs had to take the same line on it.

Also credit should go to the BRUG committee who I know have spent a lot of there spare time organising the meetings, meeting Better/ GLL and the Cllrs. Otherwise this would have disappeared into the documents that few people read or know about. Also , unfortunately , emails are all very well but looks like it takes an angry face to face meeting to make an impression. Rational comments can only work after a lot of angry people making themselves heard.
Click to expand...
 
My notes on the meeting. They are not exhaustive.

Brixton Recreation Centre public meeting to discuss the future of the Rec.

Called by BRUG

Date: 10th September 2012

The Chair opened the meeting with a few words of her own. She said the Rec may be in danger. Users of the Rec had not been consulted. Lambeth is now a Cooperative Council and citizens are at the heart of Lambeth. They should have input in the process. Brixton Rec is more than just a Rec it is a Community Hub.

Another BRUG member assisting the chair said a few words. He said the Rec is a unique place. All ages and races make friendships there. It has a huge range of activities and social activities.

The users of the Rec were not consulted about future of Rec.

Contributions from the floor and responses from Cllrs.

That the Rec has cultural significance and if it was in Mayfair the Council would not think of pulling it down.

Someone from Herne Hill asked what is being proposed?

Someone said he was representing the unspoken voice of the community. He said the facilities at Rec for football/ basketball helped to stop youth going into crime.

Cllr Lib Peck spoke ( Council leader)

She said there was a context. There had been a lot of consultation on the Brixton Town Centre. That the recent consultation was made up of workshops, and online consultation. ( heckling people saying “get to the point” and “what is the hidden agenda”). She said that this had all been started by rumours. That there was pride in Brixton. ( more heckling- “get to the point”). She said that the Council wanted the best leisure facilities for Brixton. But there were issues of access for disabled. ( more heckling- “get to the point” and the Council want to “sell off (Rec) to make money”). Cllr Peck continued that there is no hidden agenda and the Council wanted to improve facilities. That there were issues of disability access and energy sustainability of Rec. That the rumours had started with the consultation of the Brixton SPD. She urged people to sign up to Future Brixton. The draft SPD was due to be published this week but this had been pushed back. So formal consultation may not start until February. She said she was now leader of Council but had been the Cabinet member of Regeneration and housing. This post was now taken over by Cllr Pete Robbins. But as he had only been in the post a few days she was talking at the meeting.

More heckling. The Rec was iconic and a lifeline for people.

Chair intervened saying people had the right to speak. That people speak in turn. Chair said that this was about improving Rec. What is important to keep in the Rec.

Cllr Lib Peck said she was sorry there was anxiety about selling the Rec.

From the floor at the back a woman asked that Cllr Peck categorically say whether the Rec site is to be sold. Many interjections from floor saying “answer the question”. Chair said that questions would be answered in turn. 3 questions from each side of room in turn then answers. People from floor interjected saying- no more questions until the lady at the backs question is answered. Someone from floor asked is the Rec underused? It is in prime position for retail. What is going on?

Cllr Lib Peck said there is developers interest in site in Brixton. That consultation had said that people did not want any more big chain stores. That they wanted to retain the character of Brixton. The Rec is not underused. There was a large investment in it 5 years ago. Greenwich Leisure/ Better had a a good impact on running the centre. But there are concerns about disability access and energy efficiency.

Someone asked if the Rec building needed to be demolished. Cllr answered no that was not necessary. Cllr Peck said that a serious level of investment was needed and that the meeting should start to make a “shopping list” of improvements. Along with GLL/Better.

It was said that no officer had put up a notice about the recent consultation in the Rec. Cllr Peck said that it had been a mistake not to do this and have a separate meeting on the Rec. Cllr Peck repeated there was no “hidden agenda”. This issue of hidden agenda was repeatedly raised by the floor. That the Council wished to work with people to work up options. That residents should make decisions.

From floor issue of the Brixton SPD was raised. That unless the draft wording was changed to make it in line with the Brixton Masterplan and the Lambeth Core Strategy the Rec would be under threat in the future. Both the Brixton Masterplan and the Lambeth Core Strategy specifically protect Rec. How can the finished Brixton SPD contradict the Core Strategy? Questioner asked for assurance that the wording of the formal consultation document for the Brixton SPD would protect Rec. This was asked twice.

(Was it at around this point that Cllr Peck said that the feeling of the community was so strong that she said the Rec would be kept? I think so but she did not give assurance on the SPD?)

Cllr said that developers are interested in Brixton. But Council would only want to work with developers who put money into the community as well.

From floor. Man said that the consultation had been an insult.This was not being done in Brixtons name.

The Cabinet member for leisure centres spoke. Cllr Sally Prentice. The Council had to think about the energy crisis and energy costs of the Rec. Also the Council had to deal with the fact that it would not being getting any more money from central Government.

In Clapham the old leisure centre from the 1930s had been closed and completely rebuilt. The old centre was no longer fit for purpose.

That issues about disabled access and underuse of areas in Rec needed to be looked at.

Interjection from floor- you are paid to sort these things out. Just put some new lights in.

Cllr Prentice said that the Council was not a soft touch with developers.

Next in the meeting the Chair said to discuss the way forward. Summary of discussion below.

Boy comes to front to speak. Said he had used the Rec since he was 3. Now here for 5 years. So the Rec was important to him.

There needs to be a policy to get Brixton a world class athlete.

The Roller Girls said they are world class team as they are European Champions. Number 11 in world ranking. That the Rec is the only place in London where they can practice using the roller skates. As other Recs do not like roller skates on there floors. If the present Rec went they did not know what they would do.

Longer opening hours were suggested.

Refurbishment Yes replacement No

If there is refurbishment do it around people not close Rec for ages.

Go back to original architects vision for the Rec.

Rec is used by church groups as well.

In the ramp open up the windows which are now covered up on one side.

Another child spoke. They had used the Rec since they were 2 years old when they started swimming. They were now level 8.

Chair said that older people use the Rec.As an older person she said it was important for peoples well being and health. Doctors sometimes suggest using Rec to patients.

The new Cabinet member for Regeneration and housing is Cllr Pete Robbins. He was present and he had been listening to everything that had been said. He had only been in post for 3 days.

Brixton Energy could look at putting in solar panels and green energy.

It was pointed out that “Better Games” for the over 55s had been televised in Brixton Rec. It would be good to have “Better Games” for younger people.

Cllr said that everyone present should go on the BRUG email list for further consultation.

The meeting ended. The Chair thanked everyone for coming and the lively debate. Also the reassurance from the Council that the Rec would not be demolished.
 
I've just dug out the Action for Access* report on the disability accessibility perception of the Rec:

http://www.actionforaccess.org/2095/gyms-leisure-centres-and-pools/brixton-recreation-centre.html

Only three main concerns

- one about staff training / sensitivity towards working with disabled people
- one about accessible materials and publicity; and the last
- a lack of colour contrasted steps

* details on Exercise your Right surveys here: http://www.actionforaccess.org/2647/gyms/exercise-your-right.html
 
Just wanted to add my thanks to all the people who have lobbied, both electronically and in the flesh, to get Lambeth to make the statement above.

As others have noted, fingers crossed it might just signal a slightly more receptive leadership in place.
 
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