Tuesday 24 May 2011

Surrey Canal Sports Foundation/Surrey Canal redevelopment

A new charitable body has been set up to oversee the sports provision which is planned as part of the massive Surrey Canal redevelopment project next to Millwall stadium. The organisation will be chaired by Steve Norris and is expected to draw on national funding to support the sports development.

According to the press release from the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation:
"The sports facilities will be safeguarded by the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation, a registered charity set up to ensure the long-term future of the sports provision at the site. The body will develop the best possible sporting offer, put a funding model in place and appoint a management company to run the sporting village in the long-term.

Chairing the Foundation will be former Transport Minister and London Mayoral Candidate Steve Norris who will shortly be joined on the board by other leading names from the sports and business worlds.

The plans are being delivered by regeneration specialists Renewal and will see a series of state-of-the-art sports facilities to serve the local community, colleges and schools, clubs and elite athletes. This will include spaces for boxing, cricket, table tennis, gymnastics, football, basketball, netball, hockey and a new leisure centre with swimming pool.

The Sports Foundation is working closely with Sport England in the development of the plans and the Surrey Canal scheme has reached the final stages of their search to find suitable projects to receive financial support under their Iconic Facilities Fund. As part of Sport England’s plans to provide a lasting sporting legacy from the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Iconic Facilities Fund provides National Lottery Investment for regionally significant sports projects."



I touched briefly on the public consultation for this project last year, but haven't really investigated it in any detail since it's somewhat out of my manor.

There's plenty of information on the website - including the full planning application documents which were submitted earlier this year - if you've got a couple of weeks spare to study them all.

The intention to focus the development around improved sports provision is an exciting one for the area, as long as it brings direct benefits for the neighbouring communities. 

Predictably there are many tall buildings planned for the site (although at 26 storeys maximum still nowhere near Convoy's Wharf scale), but the fact that it is bounded almost exclusively by industrial land and railways means this is not a major concern as far as the development as a whole is concerned. Somewhat bizarrely, the chimney of the SELCHP power station has been used as a height reference - it's hardly representative of the surrounding area.

Surrey Canal Station, which would be right next to the site and has been proposed as part of the second phase of the East London Line extension, needs extra funding before it can be built. With this in mind I would expect the site developer to top up the pot so that its construction can be assured.

The developer proposes some 2,700 new residential units as well as the sports village and other community facilities. Without a new station or any other proposed improvements to public transport, it merely adds to concerns about its impact on the immediate vicinity.

With half a dozen major new residential developments planned for Deptford, this is a significant issue which no-one seems to be addressing.

2 comments:

Sue said...

Dame, at the New Cross Assembly meeting at the end of March, there was plenty of very vocal opposition to this development, even though it was not on the evening's 'agenda' (why are these things never on the 'agenda'?)...

Anonymous said...

Does anyone know if this Surrey Canal Renewal project is moving forward ? It seems to have gone a bit quiet. Is the funding in place yet, or is that a problem .