A proposed state-of-the-art sports pitch is under threat following a fresh appeal by Hackney residents.
Hackney Council plans to build the multi-use games area (MUGA) in the centre of London Fields park.
The move, however, is being challenged by locals who feel that the location is inappropriate and the consultation was flawed.
This could lead to long delays in building the new pitch.
As London Fields is a common, Hackney Council requires Secretary of State consent to begin work.
The London Fields Preservation Society (LFPS) will now write to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to urge him to revoke planning permission.
An LFPS spokesman said: “The community consultation has not been carried out to a level satisfactory for the scale of the application. Hackney Council carried out a massive consultation to get feedback on works at road junctions, but for the MUGA next to nothing.
“We are not anti-sports or anti-MUGA, but it’s simply in the wrong place.
“Sport England guidelines state that a MUGA should be close to roads and changing facilities so it can be used by disabled people. Hackney [Council] is discriminating against potential disabled users and future Paralympians.
“There is an old depot next to the London Fields Lido and the changing block that could be levelled and a MUGA built on top.”
The stance taken by the LFPS has been heavily criticised by local activists, who are keen to see new sports facilities in the area.
Hackney Solidarity Network (HSN) member Carl Taylor said: “LFPS have deliberately set themselves up in opposition to the London Fields User Group, which approved of the MUGA. It seems to me that LFPS represents a more elite type of fields user who wished the grass could be given over to the new middle classes for picnics.”
A statement on the HSN website added: “The LFPS richly deserves the kick up the arse they got [at the planning sub-committee meeting] and the lesson that they can’t have everything round here their own way.”
Hackney Council refused to comment, but its report on the proposals ruled out any alternative locations as being too close to surrounding houses. It also defended its consultation, and noted that Sport England supported the designs, though no mention was made in Sport England’s statement regarding accessibility.
Image taken from Wicksteed Playscapes.
I support the move to provide sports facilities to local people but London Fields is not, in my opinion, the best place to do it.
London Fields is not a big park, and the southern end in particular is very well used already. What is needed is more open space for people to enjoy, not less: it would be better to turf this area properly and turn over to grass, rather than building an 30m x 18m fenced pitch that will effectively exclude the majority of park users from using this space altogether.
If no existing brownfield site can be found then a far more suitable site would be at the far north end of the park, adjacent to Richmond Road. This is a much less heavily used area of the park, and next to the tennis courts, Lido and existing changing room facilities: by any measure a far more sensible location.
The idea of a MUGA is a good one, but Hackney haven't really thought this one through IMO.
middle class nimbys strike again, hope they choke on their picnics
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