Elephant & Castle leisure centre consultation

Southwark Council is consulting residents about their plans to redevelop the leisure centre at Elephant & Castle. They plan to have a new leisure centre with 25m pool, along with a 30 or 40 storey tower.

You can attend the consultation this Monday and Tuesday at the leisure centre:

Monday 26 March, 12 noon to 8pm
Tuesday 27 March, 12 noon to 8pm

Or visit the website to find out more.

Swimming pool and student housing for South Lambeth Road

Our colleagues in Oval have already drawn attention to this exhibition, which will be of interest to many Prince's ward residents:

Plans are being brought forward for a mixed-use development to transform 30-60 South Lambeth Road, Vauxhall, currently waste ground adjacent to the railway lines. Property developer Downing is holding a Public Exhibition on the proposals at the Vauxhall Christian Centre, 105 Tyers Street, Vauxhall, SE11 5HS on:

Thursday 8 September, 4pm – 8pm
Saturday 10 September, 11am – 4pm

This is an important opportunity for you to give your views on our plans before a planning application is submitted to Lambeth Council this autumn, so please come along if you can.

Downing’s proposed Student Housing and Leisure Centre is being designed by award-winning architects Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios and seeks to maximise the potential of this under-used site. Included in the proposals are a swimming pool and leisure centre, which local residents will be able to use. The swimming pool will be at lower ground-level and will be visible from South Lambeth Road, creating an animated street-scene. The student housing on the upper floors includes internal and external amenity space for the students and a TfL “Boris bike” stand will be provided.

For more information in the meantime, you can visit the scheme blog - http://www.downingvauxhall.blogspot.com/, email vauxhall@downing.com, call 0207 323 3544 or write to Downing, c/o 7 Bayley Street, London WC1B 3HB

Southwark Labour approve plans for swimming pool at Elephant & Castle

A period of public consultation for the proposed new Elephant and Castle leisure facility took place between 23 August and 8 October 2010 when Southwark Council asked local residents and leisure centre users what amenities and services they would like to see in a possible new facility. This resulted in an outstanding 1,300 responses from residents, leisure centre users, schools, and special interest groups.

Six months into the new Labour administration, Southwark is making another major step forward for the regeneration of Elephant and Castle by giving the green light for a new swimming pool and leisure centre.

The consultation on new leisure facilities at the Elephant and Castle has been a huge success. What people said they really want is a new swimming pool. The next most popular facilities were a gym, exercise studio and sports hall.

In the light of the consultation results the Southwark Cabinet has given approval to progress plans for a new leisure facility with a six lane 25m swimming pool, a learner pool, a four court sports hall, a gym, an exercise studio, a crèche and a café.

The regeneration of Elephant and Castle is a priority for Southwark Council and they are determined to keep up the momentum and deliver the transformation that local residents deserve.

To see the full results of the consultation or if you have any questions about the proposed leisure facility please visit www.southwark.gov.uk/elephantleisure

A new pool at Elephant & Castle will be a fantastic facility for residents of Kennington. It will add to the swimming options for North Lambeth residents; who currently can use Brixton Rec, will be able to use a brand new pool in Clapham which opens in November 2011, and who can look forward to a new pool built as part of the Doon Street development on the South Bank. Residents of Vauxhall and the riverside might find that the Queen Mother Sports Centre over the river on Vauxhall Bridge Road is the most convenient swimming pool close by.

Labour's manifesto for Lambeth launched

Over the next few days, Labour volunteers will be hand delivering copies of Lambeth Labour’s manifesto to residents of Kennington and Vauxhall.

The choice at the next election couldn’t be clearer. Labour have sorted Lambeth’s finances out, improved customer service and frozen council tax for two years, while the Lib Dems and Tories hiked it by 40% and cut frontline services.

The plans for change in Lambeth include:
• Keeping council tax as low as possible and protecting essential services
• a uniformed hit squad to tackle anti social behaviour and move into crime hotspots
• Biggest ever investment in pavements and roads
• Making Lambeth London’s greenest council with a 20% cut in carbon emissions
• Youth activities within a mile of every home, and two new primary schools
• Four new swimming pools and free swimming for every resident
• Upgrading 10,000 homes with new windows, doors and roofs, central heating and modern kitchens and bathrooms

You can download the whole manifesto here: