Golden Lane Leisure Centre will keep its sports hall as part of an upcoming refurbishment, after the City of London Corporation voted unanimously to proceed with amended designs. The multi-use hall had been threatened with closure under a previous scheme approved in January, which would have replaced it with a larger gym and studio, believed to deliver a revenue surplus and stronger strategic alignment.
Community pressure leads to review
Following growing concerns about the loss of the hall, members chose to carry out further consultation. Campaigners urged the Corporation to review the decision, leading to a Community and Children’s Services Committee (CCS) meeting yesterday where members voted for “Option 1 - enhanced”. This plan provides a modest increase in gym space while retaining the sports hall.
Rajesh Thind, Interim Chair of the Golden Lane Leisure Centre User Forum, praised the decision as a victory for the community. The centre, located in the heart of the famous Central London estate, has been closed since April 30 after former operator Fusion Lifestyle went bust. The Corporation’s decision to close the centre ahead of refurbishment at the end of this year or early next year has proven controversial, especially as other local authorities with Fusion-run facilities found ways to keep them open.
Consultation results show strong support for sports hall
At the CCS meeting, members were presented with a new “emerging design” developed after engagement that found a clear majority in favour of keeping the hall. Two sessions were held, with a survey also launched. The report stated 88 people attended in-person, with 218 responses to the survey. Of the 206 questionnaire respondents who chose an option, 84 per cent wanted to keep the sports hall. The pool and sports hall were rated the most important facilities.
The report notes that while the enhanced option delivers a significantly weaker financial position than the original scheme, it shows improvement on previous forecasts and would return a surplus. Common Councillor Sandra Jenner supported the amended scheme, saying: “It provides the two objectives that I’ve been looking for, which is it covers its own costs… and it’s what people want.”
Council members acknowledge community role
Common Councillor Dawn Frampton echoed this, stating: “Given the energy and work and at times our souls that have gone into getting us to this point, I would like to thank the officers for listening to the committee and the community and coming back with the emerging offer which retains the sports hall. Therefore I will be supporting the enhanced option one.”
Steve Goodman, a Common Councillor and Deputy Chair of the committee, said the process should act as a learning for members, “because we took a decision which is quite clearly not the right decision and the engagement of the community has enabled us to re-think where we were going”. Committee Chair Deputy Helen Fentimen closed by saying she was “pleased” by the way the alternative option has been progressed, adding it was “absolutely clear from day one that [retaining the sports hall] was what people wanted”.
Next steps: Community Steering Group established
Members unanimously agreed to the enhanced design and the establishment of a Community Steering Group for the project. Following the meeting, Mr Thind said: “This is a victory for the community and for evidence-based decision-making. Four months ago this centre was closed with no consultation and no equality assessment. Today, the City has listened to its own data and its own residents. We thank every member of this community who wrote, organised, and turned up.”
