Council set to consult local people on exciting vision for Sobell Leisure Centre

The centre, which is run by charitable social enterprise GLL on behalf of the council, temporarily closed last August after flooding from a water main burst on the nearby Hornsey Road. 

While some parts of the centre have since reopened, the whole ground floor – including the trampoline park, soft play, ice rink, squash courts, and sports hall – have been condemned due to the damage.  

As part of its commitment to creating a more equal Islington, the council is determined to ensure that people of all ages and backgrounds are able to enjoy the physical, mental, and social benefits of exercise. With this in mind, the council and GLL intend to consult local people to seek their views on plans to modernise the centre, to ensure that it meets the needs of local people. These could include: 

• Installing a new “mega adventure” active play space, which would link with the already-popular trampoline park to create innovative, state-of-the-art facilities. 
• Creating a new baby and toddler section within the active play space, alongside a junior section, as well as a “ninja warrior” style inflatable and trampoline zone for older children and teenagers.  
• Upgrading the squash courts and gym with better facilities.  
• Moving the boxing area into a larger space, to accommodate increasing demand. 
• Creating a new café area, with seating. 

The proposals would help make the Sobell one of the UK’s leading family experience spaces. Both the council and GLL want to ensure that the revised space works as well as possible for the local community, which is why a six-week consultation on the proposals is set to launch on Friday, 26 May. Local people will receive further information on how they can provide their ideas and insight in the planned consultation soon. 

To ensure that the reopened Sobell Leisure Centre meets the needs of the local community while remaining financially secure, the council and GLL have, after much thought, taken the difficult decision to propose not to rebuild the centre’s ice rink, which was condemned following the flood.  

Even before the cost-of-living crisis and rise in energy prices, the ice rink had been making a loss of £250,000 per year. It also served a relatively low number of people – approximately 590 on average per week, compared to 2,000 people per week at the trampoline park - and this number is expected to decrease with the opening of the new state-of-the-art rink at Lee Valley that has doubled in size.  

Furthermore, the council and GLL anticipate that by reusing the space and implementing the other proposals, usage of the Sobell Leisure Centre will rise to 250,000 people per year, with the facilities appealing to a broader demographic than before.  

Cllr Nurullah Turan, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Health and Social Care, said: “We know how much the Sobell Leisure Centre’s ice rink means to some local people who have used it for years, and how disappointing the proposal to not rebuild it will be.  

“However, after much thought and careful consideration, we’ve taken the difficult decision to propose that we don’t rebuild it after it was condemned in last year’s flood. Even before the devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the rise in energy prices, it had been making a loss of £250,000 per year, and the new Olympic-sized rink at Lee Valley would only lead to its usage falling further. 

“As part of our commitment to creating a more equal Islington, where everyone can easily enjoy the mental, physical, and social benefits of exercise, we’re looking to rebuild the condemned parts of the Sobell Leisure Centre in a way that ensures they serve local people of all ages and backgrounds. 

“We want to make sure that the new facilities work as well as possible for people across the borough, which is why we’re planning to consult on these plans later this month. Your feedback will help shape the future of the Sobell Leisure Centre, so we want to hear your ideas, insight, and thoughts.” 

A spokesperson for GLL said: “We’ve been proud to work in partnership with Islington Council to maintain some important and socially valuable leisure facilities and invest in new and expanded programmes. 

“So our staff were heartbroken to see the extensive damage caused by the Sobell flood.  While we worked quickly to re-open the upstairs – the ground floor offer was destroyed. 

“As a charitable social enterprise which exists to improve physical and mental health in local communities, we believe there is now an opportunity to increase customer visits, activity levels and improve the visitor experience.  We welcome all feedback on the consultation.” 

The decision to hold a public consultation on the future of the Sobell Leisure Centre is subject to approval by the council’s Executive on Thursday, May 18. Further details can be found on the council’s website.