£30m rebuild of Sobell Centre sparks protest

One of London's most popular sports centres is to be demolished to make way for a replacement complex.

The Sobell Centre in Islington is expected to be bulldozed at the end of next year leaving locals without a sports facility for two years.

Council leaders have backed the £30 million scheme which will include a housing development on the site next to Arsenal's Emirates Stadium.

They say the centre, built in 1973 with a donation from philanthropist Sir Michael Sobell, is dilapidated and will be cheaper to rebuild than repair.

The new complex will include a swimming pool, sports hall, gymnasium and fitness studio but may not include the ice rink, squash and badminton facilities currently available. A police station and youth club are also planned on the site.

But the council said it cannot provide any guarantees that some sports would not lose out to housing.

A developer will contribute an estimated two-thirds of the building costs and Arsenal football club will spend £1.8 million as agreed when it was granted permission for the Emirates Stadium. But local campaigners have complained about the timing of the centre's closure, saying they expect a surge in interest in the run-up to the 2012 Olympics.

They claim that there is no need for a new centre and proposed an alternative £12 million refurbishment scheme to include a 200-metre running track which has been rejected by the council.

They say there are plenty of public swimming pools in the area and there is no need for another one.

Council chief executive John Foster will discuss the proposals at a meeting next week with Sport England, which may intervene if there is likely to be a significant loss of sports facilities.

Gordon Kerr, director of England Squash, said: "This is probably the largest municipal sports centre in London and is used by low-income families. The council want to push through the scheme because of housing but the local community is against it. We intend to oppose this at every stage."

Islington Council said it was "business as usual" at the centre, which has 3,000 users a week. But the council added it had to be knocked down because it had a leaking roof and outdated electrics and heating system.

The council said: "We have made it clear that we want to provide a leisure centre for the next 50 years because the current building is worn out and we can't keep patching it up. We cannot guarantee that every facility in the current building will be retained." Therewill be further public consultation prior to a planning application.

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