Battersea Sports Centre to "stay open until new facilities open"

Labour councillor Tony Belton presented a 750-signature petition to Wandsworth Council at a meeting on January 28, where the council said the site would be open until an estimated date of April 2016, when the football pitch is likely to be completed.

The success of the petition follows on from community kick-about, launched by Will Martindale, Battersea’s Labour prospective parliamentary candidate, which took place on January 24 and proved very popular with Wandsworth people.

Mr Martindale said: "The community campaign has been amazing, local people have made the council sit up and listen.

"This delay is good news and gets us closer to the goal of our campaign. We believe Battersea Sports Centre should stay open until the large new leisure centre is built to replace it as part of the Winstanley estate regeneration."

Leader of Wandsworth Council Ravi Govindia said: “This site will be used to rehouse around 90 families from the nearby Winstanley and York Road estates during the first phase of our regeneration scheme. What does Mr Martindale have to say to these families and does he expect them to move away from their friends, schools and families? The local community supports our regeneration project but it has become clear Labour’s election candidate does not.

“We have made it absolutely clear that the sporting facilities on Hope Street are being transferred to other local sites so Battersea residents continue to have excellent services at their disposal. We have also included a much bigger and better sports centre in our plan for the Winstanley and York Road estates but Mr Martindale’s election campaign has neglected to mention this key fact. He is quite prepared to mislead and worry local people if he thinks it will win a few votes.”

The future of Battersea Sports Centre will be decided by the community services committee at Wandsworth Town Hall on Tuesday, February 10, at 7.30pm.