Planning application submitted for new leisure centre, school and homes
Hackney Council has submitted a planning application to build a new leisure centre, secondary school and new homes – including 81 for social rent and shared ownership – next to Shoreditch Park.
The new leisure centre will include a six-lane main pool, training pool and leisure water with water features and a flume, a six-court sports hall, four squash courts, two tennis courts, creche and soft play area, two five-a-side pitches and a fitness suite, spin studio and exercise studios. It will also include a cafe and toilets, which will be available to Shoreditch Park users.
It will replace the existing Britannia Leisure Centre, which has outdated facilities and is becoming increasingly expensive to repair and maintain, leading to the pool being closed to the public several times over the last few years.
The new secondary school will provide 1,140 much-needed school places for local children, including a sixth form.
Work on the leisure centre, school and first phase of new homes is expected to start in 2019 and complete in 2021. This application prioritises vital new public facilities, including 81 council homes for social rent and to buy through shared ownership and 12 homes for outright sale. The second phase, which will be the subject of a separate application, will focus on up to 388 homes for outright sale to help fund the development, in the absence of adequate Government funding.
The Council will retain full control of the land and decisions made about the site, and is acting as developer, to ensure all income generated directly benefits local people. The project was given approval by the Council’s Cabinet in April 2017. Since then residents have helped to shape the development by taking part in workshops and giving feedback.
This is a really important next stage in the Britannia project and I’m pleased to be able to share the exciting proposals, which have been shaped by residents’ feedback over the last couple of years.
This is a critical opportunity to ensure that Shoreditch and Hoxton get the outstanding leisure facilities they deserve. The existing leisure centre is nearing the end of its life and it’s not good enough to just keep patching it up. We want to build a modern centre that includes lane swimming as well as family-friendly pools; a bigger and better gym, along with courts and pitches designed to meet people’s needs.
The school will provide much needed school places for local children, meaning they will not have to travel across the borough – or out of the borough - to go to school. “We will also be building 81 homes for Council social rent or shared ownership through the Council. The later phases will focus on private homes for sale to help fund the project, in the absence of adequate Government funding.
The school will provide a permanent home for The City of London Academy Shoreditch Park, which opened at a temporary site last year. It is run by the City of London Academy Trust, who have an outstanding track record in the borough, with 89% of students at The City Academy Hackney achieving five or more A*-C grades at GCSE level. It is one of the top schools in the country for pupil progress.
If granted planning permission, work is expected to start on the new leisure centre in Spring 2019, and on the school in summer 2019. Work on the first residential block, including all of the affordable council housing, would also begin in summer 2019. The 81 council homes would be a mix of council homes for social rent (48) and council shared ownership (33). Up to a further 388 properties will be sold to fund the development, but most will not be built until after the new council homes, leisure centre and school are open.
The homes will be in buildings of four to 25 storeys, with the tallest three buildings being 16,19 and 25 storeys. In the base of one of the towers there will be early years facilities for Shoreditch Park Primary School.
Find out more and have your say at: www.hackney.gov.uk/britannia-site