Fairlop Waters Consultation Officer

2007-01-24T12:17:00.000Z

Here is the Officer to contact at Redbridge council He is Mr Iain Varah He is the Director for Sport Education and Comunity (the old Leasure Services Directorate) his responsibilty in theory also encompasses the Nature Conservation Team based at Hainault Forest Country Park. I am lead to belive that the Olympic Dream originated from him so can we expect a full unbiased consultation?

Fairlop Waters Saved ?

2006-11-11T17:56:00.000Z

The recent news that Fairlop Waters has been saved from being developed as London City Race Course was immediately tainted by the Councils press release (below) and statements to the Ilford Recorder by the the Leader of the Council

Quote “Councillor Weinberg is quoted as saying “The 2012 committee will be told we have 300 acres here and they will be asked to come down and have a look for themselves. My medium term ambition would be to use it as a base for one of the nations al teams to train and stay in 2012. Its on our doorstep, so we've got to think big.”

Redbridge Council Press Release and Briefing – Fairlop Waters

The London Borough of Redbridge has great pleasure in announcing that they have exchanged contracts with the Administrators of Norham Multi Leisure Ltd late last week and the lease of Fairlop Waters has been surrendered to the Council.

Leader of the Council, Cllr. Alan Weinberg said “the whole Council are delighted that that this valuable site, covering over 300 acres of the Borough, will be back in the Council's direct control for the first time in over 20 years."

At an extraordinary meeting of the Council on Wednesday 18th October Council Officers were given authority to conclude negotiations with Grant Thornton, the Administrators who have operated the site for the last year. The Council reached this decision unanimously.

The content and detail of the agreement with Grant Thornton are confidential but one of the principal implications is that the planning appeal and enquiry over the proposal to build a London City Race course at Fairlop Waters will now not take place. Cllr. Weinberg commented “this proposal was never popular with local people, was opposed by the Council, and never seemed to be in the interests of Redbridge, We have stopped the plan in its tracks.”

The surrender of the Lease will give the Council full control of Fairlop Country Park and its associated facilities, It brings to a conclusion an unsatisfactory relationship with a lessee who has not shared the Council's vision for Fairlop. The Council will now seek to maximise the leisure and recreational potential for the facilities, and also its overall potential in terms of the wider regeneration agenda for the borough.

Clir Weinberg added “the acquisition of the Lease meets the Council's ambitions, and vision of making Redbridge a better place to live ...we will improve the site and its facilities for the local community.”

The Council will complete the agreement and take possession of the site on Monday 6th November. Existing staff will transfer to the Council, who will operate the existing facilities on site. The Council are currently looking at the infrastructure and operation of the site before making any decisions on its future.

The Council intends to consult the local community fully in all aspects of the site's futurepotential use and development. The Council will study in detail the surveys it has commissioned and carefully develop any feasibility and development plans in an open and transparent way. The Council will operate the facility in broadly the same manner as current for a period of a minimum of 4 months while it reviews all possible options. The Council's aim is to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and overall standards of the Country Park and its facilities.

Editors' notes:

Fairlop Waters form part of Fairlop Plain, which was purchased by the Council in 1955.

The facilities at Fairlop Waters include a Country Park, an 18-hole golf course, a 9 hole Par 3 course and driving range, a 40-acre lake, children's' amusements and activities in Al’s Adventure House, and a Club House including a bar/restaurant.

A 125 year lease of the site was granted in February 1985 to Norstead Leisure (subsequently Norham Multi-Leisure now in administration). The Council financed the construction of the 18-hole golf course, Lake and Country Park, Par 3 course and Driving Range. Norham built the Activity Centre and converted an existing building to form AI's Adventure House at their expense.

The relationship has, over the years, become unsatisfactory, largely due to differing perceptions about the development potential of the site. This culminated in Norham's decision to seek to build a racecourse on the site, permission for which was refused. The Secretary of State subsequently turned down Norham's appeal against this decision. A further application was also refused, and the appeal was due to be heard in January 2007.

The nature of the site is well known; much of the western area was filled with household refuse between the late 1950's and the early 1980's, and the Council has been monitoring methane gas on the site for a number of years. The main purpose of monitoring is to check that there is no significant lateral migration of landfill gases in the ground through permeable strata to target buildings outside the landfill.

The proposal to bring back the lease of this site into Council ownership will end the existing arrangements that have been increasingly unsatisfactory in recent years. A surrender of the lease will give the Council vacant possession of an asset that would otherwise remain in the lessees' occupation for about another 100 years.

This will provide the Council with an opportunity to review the facilities in the short, medium and long term for the benefit of the local Community.

There are many advantages in the council directly managing the facilities in the short term. This will put the whole site, including the Sailing Centre, under one management structure. This will also give the Council further options for developing sporting activities in preparation for the Olympic Games in 2012.

The Council already has a managed golf facility at Hainault Forest. Participation in golf is growing and increasingly more young people are participating as the sport becomes more affordable. Fairlop Waters could provide greater opportunities at a competitive price that would be accessible to all and in the medium term make a financial contribution to the authority.

Monday 23^rd October 2006

End of press release

Interesting to note that The Council has not noted the sites value for wildlife. As it is noted as a “Site of Nature Conservation Importance” for the borough (SNCI) with the surrounding farmland. This status is a result of the surveys carried out by the London Ecology Unit now part of the GLA. This and all the other Redbridge (SNCI) were noted in the resulting “Nature Conservation Strategy for Redbridge” and all the sites are now notified in the Redbridge UDP is this not a level of protection? Appears not !

Can the wildlife interest co-exist with any development? We believe it to be unlikely.

A development that besides incorporating hard surfacing and fertilised & heavily mown grass will also bring more people to the site who have a totally different agenda to the sites current quiet low level use, therefore the area will be heavily disturbed as well as the loss of habitat.

The borough has plenty of “green desert” playing fields that are not environmentally sustainable and under used (just the weekend football) so why the agenda for Fairlop Waters?

The press release states that “The Council intends to consult the local community fully in all aspects of the site's future potential use and development.”

We would ask members of the community to contact their local Councillor and demand that the wildlife value of this site and the surounding farmland is not compromised!

Redbridge Environment and Wildlife

Fairlop Waters Consultation Officer

Fairlop Waters Saved ?