This is the e mail that was sent yesterday afternoon to all 47 Islington Labour Councillors and the one Green Councillor (Caroline Russell who presented our petition at the Council meeting on 29 June). You can see who these Islington Councillors are here: http://democracy.islington.gov.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx --------------------- Dear Islington Ward Councillors, From previous e mails you have all received, the questions asked by myself and Barry Hill (Sobell Customer Representative) at the last Council meeting on 29 June and the adverse publicity in the Islington Tribune and Islington Gazette, you will be fully aware of the public outcry regarding this proposed trampoline park that will take over half the Sobell Centre sports hall. We set up our petition just four weeks ago and currently have 1,030 signatures: www.change.org/p/petition-to-save-the-sobell-centre-sports-hall. They include all types of Sobell customers including 5 a side footballers, badminton, volleyball, squash, gym and ‘keep fitters’, as well as many local residents concerned about the impact of this project on local street parking. The Petition Comments are attached and as you will see, there is real anger at the secretive way in which Islington Council has acted. To repeat yet again, the only reference to this far reaching proposal was buried in a few brief sentences in 152 pages of budget proposals approved at the Budget Council meeting on 23 February, which gave no details of size, timing or funding. Despite promising an impact assessment prior to a decision being taken and without the full prior public consultation that was promised by GLL and approved by the Council at ‘Customer Representative Meetings’, just a week later on 3 March, GLL were given the go-ahead by your Executive Committee. As well as these broken promises on public consultation, the implementation of this project has in my opinion, been unsatisfactory. As just one example, before our involvement, the trampoline park dividing wall that will split the sports hall in half was to be built so close (50 cms) to one of the two remaining netball / basketball courts as to make it dangerous to use. This wall is now being moved one metre further back, so if nothing else, our campaign has at least ensured that what will remain of the Sobell sports hall, although far from ideal, will at least be useable! GLL’s ‘displacement’ plan for the indoor 5 a side footballers is to move us to Holloway School Hall. Again, this had not been properly researched, as it had nine dangerous protruding right angled door frames within the football playing area which GLL have now made flush. It still however has a solid concrete floor which offers no cushioning or shock absorption. More importantly, it has an ultra non-slip, ‘Gymflex’ lino surface, that in my and many others opinion, makes playing football on it hazardous. This has already caused the first serious injury of a 5 a side footballer who has had, “ .. a complete tear of the ACL, a partial tear of the LCL, a tear of the miniscus and a fracture of something unpronounceable !”. Apart from being far further from tube stations, not available at weekends and not available during school exam periods, (despite promises from GLL that it would be), no football groups will willingly play there, unless they have absolutely no local alternative. It is simply not comparable to the Sobell for indoor football. In mid-April we proposed a solution by which we could remain at the Sobell Centre, with easy to use, mobile football barriers. We had detailed plans produced by the supplier and obtained a modest quote of circa £15K, which would be quickly paid off by the 35 football groups. An inspection of these mobile barriers in use took place in late June, but we still await the outcome of GLL’s “review”. In the meantime, the homeless football groups, many of whom have played together for decades, are starting to disband. Some groups are playing outdoors, but as most of our players are elderly, playing on far more demanding, slippery astro-turf pitches as from the start of the Autumn, will simply not be realistic. Despite however all this furore against the trampoline park proposal, a customer notice was recently posted stating that the Sobell sports hall will be closed from 31 July to 9 August. With an imminent threat of damaging works, we had no choice but to start the legal process to judicially review the Council’s failure to consult. This needs to be done before serious damage is caused to the Olympic legacy, sprung timber floor, (by we are told screwing hardboard on top, which apparently is a “timber floating floor”), or before irreversible damage is caused by cutting out 6.5 metres from the first floor concrete parapet wall (required to provide access to a “trampoline viewing mezzanine” that will house a ”slush puppy concession” - yes really!). The formal 'Letter Before Action' that was served by our solicitors Freeths last Thursday is attached. It is effectively a pre-action protocol letter requesting that Islington Council confirm by 4 pm on Thursday 27 July 2017 that the works will be halted and for an all parties meeting to be arranged shortly thereafter. We are awaiting a response. Despite this, a customer who has just visited the Sobell Centre has e mailed: “Just been to gym and there was a lot of dust in corridor from cafe to changing rooms …. staff were complaining and I lodged a protest with a duty manager - the workers doing it said they had been told to get on with it quickly and hadn’t had time to screen it off …. looks like they are rushing to do works before any judge gets to hear the case”. If this is correct and substantive construction works have already begun, it really is pretty poor. I also assume GLL have only given the go ahead to their building contractor following specific instructions to do so from the Islington Executive. This is however simply no way for democratically elected politicians to act. As was promised, Sobell customers and local residents should have been consulted prior to these works being undertaken. As this has not happened, at the very least, Islington Ward councillors should vote on whether to proceed without allowing this public consultation and I would also suggest, approve the £2 m loan that we are told is being provided to GLL. There would then be some semblance of a democratic and accountable process. Yours sincerely, John Barber