Sent to most newspapers yesterday, we have not given up!
Save Skating In Streatham- Press Release 27th January 2011
This week-end saw the 80th Birthday Anniversary of Streatham Ice Rink the second oldest rink in the UK, unfortunately none of us were able to celebrate in the knowledge that it will be demolished before it’s time, it could survive another 20 years or more but we have been sold out by Lambeth to Tesco’s purely to let them have their 60,000sq ft Megastore 2 years earlier, on the basis that an equivalent temporary rink for 3 years is built in Brixton 3 miles away. That is where the lie begins, it is not equivalent in any way, yet the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government the Rt Hon. Eric Pickles MP has been duped into non-intervention because his department fell for these lies and believed local democracy would ensure PPG17 Equivalence would be applied, not so.
None of the bodies that endorsed this flawed rink had any backbone, blackmailed into believing the manna tomorrow promise of the new Olympic Rink as part of the replacement leisure centre in Streatham Hub fearing that something is better than nothing, falsely believing that this temporary rink would meet our collective needs, for this temporary period of 3 years not so! (Is that temporary? seems like a lifetime to kids) It is hard to accept that an ice pad of 56m length can be fitted into a maximum of 60m (which includes the pavement up to the kerb in Brixton Station Road, is this legal to remove the pavement on this narrow road?) requiring 1.5m minimum space around the ice pad and the width of the fabric of the building) this is an impossibility. Will the English Ice Hockey Association shut their eyes when they find out the rink ice pad is shorter than 56m and still allow Ice Hockey to be played?
Will the National Ice Skating Association be happy when the uptake of their “Learn To Skate” programme fails to attract sufficient numbers to make it pay, as without a party room where will all these new pupils come from, how will they get bitten by the bug to skate? Will the fire brigade allow the 400 spectators to stand in the free space on this one sided rink or will it be less, if so how will any management company break even with so few customers, will they be forced to put prices sky high to make it pay, or will it fold like many of our teams and clubs will without adequate close proximity parking and will this temporary rink close early or will Tesco and Lambeth poor money into it to keep it limping along , what kind of continuity is that?
Will this then give Tesco’s an out, to say an ice rink is no longer needed? We know that Tesco’s had no intention of building the scheme they signed up to in 2008, they will wriggle to get what they want, whatever that turns out to be, the communities of Brixton and Streatham will find out to their costs as the years tick by.
Planning Law is in a complete mess, the section 106 is not worth the paper it is written on, it can be varied by the developer at any time, Eric Pickles needs to urgently put conditions in place that prevent developers from playing the long game, after the Mayor of London and DCLG planning department outline conditions that need to be met, before a scheme can proceed, only for the developer pressurising local authorities into submission to change those conditions after nothing has happened for many years to get what they want under the threat of pulling out from the scheme. This is a weakness UK wide, one where these developers can afford their Queen’s Council barristers to bludgeon local authorities into giving in, this must stop! Tesco’s will use this ploy time and time again, as will the other large supermarket chains, against the communities wishes and without local peoples consent, we were not listened to by either Tesco’s or Lambeth, surely devolution of powers to local authorities must have a higher authority to protect them from these sharks. This has to be addressed urgently or we will lose much of our heritage to these large companies with the power to destroy our local communities with impunity.
We attach a number of photographs showing the kids that will be impacted by this decision most, showing their distrust in the promises made by Tesco’s and Lambeth Council, special needs youngsters travelling from a wide area to attend the only special needs Ice Hockey Club in the country.
