This week, Chuka posed a written question in Parliament to find out from the Minister for Sport and the Olympics:

(1) what assessment he has made of the legacy for the London borough of Lambeth and its residents from the London 2012 Olympic Games;

(2) what steps his Department has taken to ensure that London boroughs other than those hosting the London 2012 Olympics will obtain a legacy from the games.

Below is the response he received from the Minister:

“The London borough of Lambeth, London as a whole, and the wider UK are benefitting from the opportunities created by the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

“There has been significant infrastructure investment in and around the Olympic Park, including transport and utilities. Other economic benefits that have accrued to London include:

“Of the 6,442 contracted work force on the Olympic Park (excluding the Village) at the end of March 2010, 3,457 were from London, of which 2,185 were resident outside the five east London host boroughs (Greenwich, Newham, Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest). The Olympic Delivery Authority and its partners have a range of measures in place, including dedicated training centres, to promote sustainable employment benefits from the building of the Olympic Park.

“Of the 1,349 companies that have won over £5 billion of work directly supplying the Olympic Delivery Authority (May 2010), 689 were registered in London, of which 493 were registered outside the host boroughs and 20 in Lambeth. Many more business across London are winning work in the supply chains of the ODA contractors and LOCOG began in January its procurement for everything it needs to stage the Games, so there will be many more opportunities for business in London across many sectors to get involved.

“34,047 London companies, of which 27,418 come from outside the five east London host boroughs (June 2010), were registered on CompeteFor, the electronic brokerage system giving companies access to Olympic-related opportunities and the support to compete for them.

“The Mayor of London is responsible for maximising the impact of the Games across London and has been working with a range of pan-London partners including his family of agencies to deliver a coherent legacy programme that ensures people living in London gain from the positive effects of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.”

Last month, the Streatham Hub Redevelopment was given the go-ahead.

The project includes a brand new ice rink, swimming pool, leisure centre as well as affordable housing, and will bring up to 600 new jobs to our area.

Following pressure by the “Keep Streatham Skating!” campaign, Tesco have agreed to guarantee continuous ice rink provision and Lambeth Council has said the retailer will not be allowed to open it’s supermarket until the new rink and leisure centre are opened.  To read more about the history of the project and the campaign to maintain ice provision, follow this link.

Of course, we have been here before – agreements with Tesco to develop the project have been reached in the past. However, when I spoke with Tesco on behalf of local residents at the end of last month (and asked why we should believe the scheme will proceed this time round), I was told that on the last two occasions the scheme had gone to the Tesco Plc Board for approval and no approval had been forthcoming, whereas on this occasion the scheme was promoted by the Chief Executive himself and given Board approval.

Tesco has agreed to provide a temporary ice rink whilst the new rink is built.  Finding a site for this structure has been difficult, and I have concerns over placing a large structure on Streatham Common.  Doing so, in my view, should only be considered as a matter of last resort if no better alternative site can be found in Streatham.

If the Common is the only option, a full explanation should be given to the community with reasons and the structure should be there for as short a time and take up as little space as possible. The Common should also be restored to a better state once the temporary structure is gone. Consultation with interested parties, including skaters and users of Streatham Common, is currently underway.

So there are still issues which need to be ironed out but I believe that our area – including skaters, swimmers and users of the common – will benefit and Streatham High Road will be given a much needed boost from the Streatham Hub development.

The government has outlined plans for establishing a network of after school Olympic sports clubs. The Change 4 Life programmeis aiming to inspire teenagers of all abilities to play an Olympic sport and build a world class sports system on the back of Britain hosting the Olympic Games.

£6m of government and lottery funding will be spent on 3,000 new after school clubs to open in the summer offering sports as diverse as badminton, boccia, fencing, handball, table tennis, volleyball and wheelchair basketball.

The initiative will build on the successes since winning the Olympic Games in 2005 which include increasing adult sport participation by 600,000 and ensuring that 90% of 5-16 year olds have at least 2 hours of school sport every week.

As well as the obvious health and sporting benefits, it is hoped that the scheme will contribute to building a sense of community spirit. In addition the government aims to get 2 million people playing more sport, 1 million more physically active, and to ensure that 5-16 year olds are offered 5 hours of school sport per week.

Over the weekend, Chuka joined local residents to protest outside the Tesco supermarket on Streatham High Road.

The protest was held to put pressure on Tesco to keep Streatham Ice Rink open and to uphold its promises on the Streatham Hub project.

Tesco’s board is due to meet later this month to agree proposals for the Hub, and will present these to Lambeth council in advance of its cabinet meeting on March 22.

In 2007, Tesco promised that the existing ice rink would not close until a newly-built ice rink is opened, but refused to guarantee this at a public meeting held in October 2009.
 
Concerns have also been voiced over the current state of the ice rink and Tesco’s failure to invest in the building’s maintenance.

If you have not yet done so, sign Chuka’s petition to Keep Streatham Skating

Chuka Umunna, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Streatham, has called for Tesco to be given a firm deadline within which to come forward with revised proposals acceptable to Streatham residents to develop the Streatham Hub.

At a public meeting in Streatham held by community organization Streatham Action, Lambeth council cabinet members and officers gave local residents an update on the future of the Streatham Hub project.

The Streatham Hub Project is intended to provide a new ice rink complex, leisure facilities, a new supermarket and affordable housing for the Streatham area. Under proposals agreed with Lambeth Council in 2007, Tesco promised that the existing ice rink would not close until the new complex is opened, but refused to guarantee this at a public meeting held in October 2009.

Councillors revealed that negotiations with Tesco, which owns the Ice Rink site, are still ongoing. Councillors were not in a position to announce the results of the ongoing negotiation with Tesco, but did indicate that should it not be possible to reach agreement, alternative options would be considered.

Councillor Lib Peck, the Lambeth Council Cabinet member for housing and regeneration outlined the main principles underpinning the council’s approach to the ongoing negotiations with Tesco, including importantly continuity of ice provision until a new ice rink is built.

The board of Tesco PLC is due to meet in mid March when the chief executive, Sir Terry Leahy, will put forward proposals for the Streatham Hub for approval before the retailer reverts back to the cabinet of the council with its final position. In turn, the council officers will prepare a report either recommending that the Tesco proposals be approved or not by the meeting of the Lambeth council cabinet on March 22 2010.

Commenting on the current state of negotiations, Mr Umunna said: “If Tesco comes forward with proposals which are acceptable to the community and the council, it is crucial they are legally bound into their commitments. Any contract entered into with them must have teeth, and they should not be allowed to renege on any promises made.

“If Tesco do not come forward with proposals which are acceptable, the council should walk away from any deal and look to immediately progress the development of the Streatham Hub project on its own. We cannot keep waiting for the retailer to come good – The fact they did not even bother to send anyone to speak on their behalf at this important meeting is indicative of their poor attitude to local people.

“I am most concerned that the ice rink, which is already in a parlous state, will be left to rot by Tesco. As a sign that they are serious about moving forward from the present impasse, they should take all action they can as owners of the ice rink to invest in it so that it is viable and can be used while we wait for a new ice rink to be built.”

Local people are holding a demonstration to make their views heard by the retailer outside Tesco Express on Streatham High Road from 11am on Saturday 27 February 2010.

Support Chuka’s Keep Streatham Skating campaign by signing the petition and joining the Facebook group.

An investigation by structural engineers last November revealed widespread structural problems at Streatham Leisure Centre. Lambeth Council consequently decided to close the Centre on 25 November 2009 for the foreseeable future while further investigations took place to find out the extent of the work needed.

In the meantime alternative arrangements for users and all schools have been arranged during the period of the Leisure Centre’s closure at other locations including Crystal Palace National Sports Centre.

Future of Streatham Leisure Centre

Many local residents have raised the issue of the future of the pool with me in person and in correspondence. I started using Streatham Swimming Pool as a child when my swimming club, Leander S.C., used to compete there against other local clubs such as Streatham S.C., Battersea Jacs S.C. and others. Until recently we used to hold Keith Hill MP’s constituency surgeries there too, where Keith and I dealt with hundreds of constituents problems. So, rest assured, I completely understand the strength of feeling on this issue – the current situation regarding leisure provision here is clearly unsatisfactory.

The closure of the pool has become somewhat of a local political football but all local residents want is for their pool to re-open – that is their priority.  The fact is that Council administrations of all different political persuasions have not invested enough in the pool for a long time and they should all be big enough to admit as much.

Streatham Hub Scheme

Why have Council administrations underinvested in the pool? Because they expected the Streatham Hub scheme – of which a brand new leisure centre and ice arena are a part – to be developed by Tesco in return for the retailer being allowed to build a big supermarket in the area. Both the current administration and the Lib Dem/Tory one before that spent much time negotiating with them and pinned their hopes on Tesco sticking to their promises.

Next week at a special public meeting organised by Streatham Action, the Council and Tesco will tell us the result of their negotiations on the future of the scheme. The meeting takes place at Hideaway at 7pm on Wednesday 10 February 2010.

Action

I have lobbied my Council colleagues to take a tough line with Tesco – I do not see why the community should put up with Tesco’s dithering and prevarication any longer. I have sought to put as much direct pressure on Tesco to live up to their promises in relation to the Streatham Hub scheme through the Keep Streatham Skating! campaign and in other ways.

In the short term, I think the Council should at least look into providing temporary arrangements for non-pool activities (e.g. Step classes, gym facilities) at other locations in Streatham area.  This is something I will be pressing the Council to do to the extent it is not already happening.  Please do not hesitate to contact my office for further information.

Chuka