Why the council is set to not reinstate the Sobell Leisure Centre ice rink

Here at Islington Council, we’re determined to create a more equal future, where everyone can enjoy the benefits of being active.

That’s the reason why we held a major public consultation on the future of the Sobell Leisure Centre, and it’s why we’re now set to work directly with the local community to create a more inclusive range of activities than ever.

However, like other councils up-and-down the country, we’re facing extreme financial pressures – from the cost-of-living crisis, the rise in energy prices, and more than a decade of austerity.

Because of that, we’re having to take tough choices – including not reinstating the Sobell Leisure Centre’s ice rink. We know the affection that many people have for the rink, and how disappointing this news will be, so I wanted to take the time to explain how we’ve come to that very difficult decision.

In the last year before the flood, the rink had lost £250,000, and that loss would have been even more severe had the ice rink remained open over the past year.

Usage was also low compared to other facilities at the Sobell – an average of 490 users per week, compared with 2,000 at the trampoline park. The opening of the new, double Olympic-size rink at Lee Valley would likely have led to a further fall in usership.

There’s also the environmental impact – the rink took up 593,126kWh of energy, 70% of the Sobell’s energy consumption.

These are huge challenges – but we’ve still listened carefully to the 36% of consultation respondents that said they’d be impacted by the ice rink closing, and have worked hard to explore the viability of your suggestions for reinstating the rink.

One common suggestion was that the council could look at using an alternative provider for the ice rink – and we reached out to several different providers to explore this in more detail.

However, the council has a contract with GLL until March 2029. Even if it were possible to use another provider, they would run it as a commercial enterprise, unlike the not-for-profit GLL. We commissioned independent advice from leading leisure consultants who confirmed that this would likely mean significant increases in prices and, as a result, an unsustainable fall in usership.

Another suggestion was that we make the ice rink more efficient, to overcome the challenges of energy costs and negative environmental impacts. However, we found that even this would only be enough to save 208,000 KwH of electricity per year, saving £77,000  – so the rink would still be hugely costly given current energy prices.

We heard repeatedly during the consultation how people want to see more opportunities for people from deprived, underrepresented communities to get involved in sport – and we couldn’t agree more. Conservative estimates suggest that our planned improvements could potentially bring 110,000 new visits to the Sobell per year, and we’re working with the local community on a programme of activities that appeal to people of all ages and backgrounds – including dedicated sessions for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, women and girls, young people, and over-60s.

We’re committed to continuing to engage with Sobell ice rink users, and are working with GLL to make it as easy as possible for them to make use of the fantastic, newer, larger rinks at Lee Valley and Alexandra Palace – including by potentially offering free transport for people that may otherwise struggle to get to Lee Valley.

Not reinstating the ice rink is an incredibly difficult decision – but it’s one that’s being made after very careful consideration, and having listened carefully to all the feedback we’ve received.

Now, we’re looking forward to rebuilding a new Sobell Leisure Centre, that people from across the borough can enjoy using.