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Islington Tribune - by TOM FOOT
Published: 12 September 2008

Sobell plan gets final approval from Lib Dems

THE Sobell Centre will be bulldozed rather than refurbished after Islington council chiefs rubber-stamped controversial plans last night (Thursday).
The decision was made at a heated meeting of the Executive committee at the Town Hall.
Despite financial gloom in the property market, the Lib Dem council expects to part-finance a £30 million replacement centre through the sale of four massive housing blocks to be built on parkland flanking the site.
Councillor Ruth Polling, Executive Member for Leisure said: “The community really wants the biggest and best possible leisure centre. I know there has been a lot of debate about refurbishment but we want to guarantee a centre that will be around in 50 years. A new centre will do that.”
MP Jeremy Corbyn, who was in the audience, said after the meeting that he would have preferred Arsenal money – which will help pay for the scheme – to be spent on a
community football facility.
The bold plan follows a three month “consultation” that drew just 1,444 response – 2.7 per cent of the 60,000 the Town Hall leafleted about the scheme.
In a counter poll, Sobell Centre users’ representative Barry Hill found 800 members living nearby in favour of refurbishment.
Residents in the area have voiced strong objections to building such a large housing development on the site and warned that it might not be guaranteed in the current economic climate.
But the council’s Executive Member for Finance, Councillor Andrew Cornwell said property in Islington was doing better than other parts of the country .
Gary Heather, chairman of Islington Trades council, accused Islington of “Shirley Porter-style gerry-mandering” tactics.
He said: “The Lib Dems do not want to hear what the people of Islington want. This is yet another land grab by the Lib Dem council to build luxury housing for people who they think will then most probably vote for them.”
The wisdom of building a massive housing development, especially on Islington’s precious green space, has also been questioned by Green and Labour councilors.
Architect James Dunnett said: “It is all very well building more houses but not if it has a negative impact on the homes that are already there.
“I think they should be looking more closely at refurbishing the building – that was not properly addressed in the consultation.”

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