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Squash club protesters win reprieve
 | | Left to right: Dennis Kleinberg, chairman of the Whitbread Tenants' and Residents' Association, with Lamb's action team members Ken Pottinger, Daniel Carter and Charez Golvala |
HUNDREDS of protesters are celebrating after controversial plans to demolish a leading squash club took an unexpected twist.
Council chiefs were expected to give developers Clan Real Estate permission to bulldoze Lamb's Passage Health and Fitness Club, in Finsbury, despite 307 letters of complaint.
But the seven-storey block of 75 flats that could replace it is on hold after dozens of squash players filed into the south area meeting and persuaded councillors to defer on a legal point.
An in-depth study into Islington's sports facilities may now have to be carried out before the council decides whether to give the demolition the go-ahead.
One section of planning guidelines, the London Plan, requires the council to "refuse planning permission to redevelop a sporting facility unless it is proven to be surplus to requirements" and
to "undertake a robust assessment of local needs".
In the meeting, Lamb's Action Team spokesman Daniel Carter
said: "Centre managers are
running it down in anticipation of closure but it's still a centre
of excellence as evidenced from the number of people here tonight.
"Last month this club admitted
90 new members - this is not a club that's dying."
And he added: "There are not
enough clubs in London to accommodate the existing members of Lamb's."
Dennis Kleinberg, chairman of the Whitbread Tenants' and Residents' Association, near the site, said:
"We oppose this on grounds of invasion of privacy, noise and disturbance."
Clan Real Estate's chief executive Alastair Nichols said: "The club
is a private members' facility that is no longer viable. Records show it
is losing membership and many of the members live outside the borough."
He added: "There are eight alternative facilities - seven of them public - which have 23 squash courts for hire between them.
"This scheme provides much-needed housing."
Committee chairman Councillor George Allan (Liberal Democrat) wanted to put the matter to a vote but committee member Councillor Keith Sharp (Liberal Democrat) said: "I'm not convinced by what I've heard. The objectors have raised good concerns that I don't think have been answered."
After the meeting, Lamb's Action Team organiser Ken Pottinger said: "It's good news. The council now has to take legal advice at the highest level. It may be obliged to carry out an assessment of whether Lamb's is surplus to requirement.
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