New Lee Valley Ice Centre could put Leyton Marsh at risk, campaigners warn

Fall out: Leyton Marsh in November 2012 after the ‘temporary’ structure for the Olympics had been removed. Photograph: Caroline Day of Save Lea Marshes

Plans for a new ice centre with two rinks could put the “vital green lung” of Leyton Marsh under threat, campaigners have warned.

The Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA), which manages the the 10,000 acre park, wants the new venue to be built on the site of the Lee Valley Ice Centre.

The Park Authority had been considering whether to refurbish the existing ice rink or build a new venue, either at the current site or elsewhere in the Lee Valley Regional Park.

But following a feasibility study, published in April, it has now decided to push for a revamped centre on the existing Lea Bridge Road site.

Campaigners have hit out at the plans, claiming the ‘international standard’ ice centre would nibble away at neighbouring Leyton Marsh.

Caroline Day of Save Lea Marshes, which last year protested against plans to build a sports pavilion on Hackney Marshes, said: “It is important to protect Leyton Marsh as it forms part of a vital green lung for the whole of London.

“Lee Valley Regional Park Authority are official guardians of the land and should do their utmost to protect it. Many local residents, including those of the high-rise developments adjacent to the marshes, do not have gardens so the marshes are their local green space.

“As more people move into the area, the open green space of the marshes becomes even more vital for the health and wellbeing of those living in a heavily polluted built up city.”

Save Lea Marshes does not oppose the replacement of the ice centre, but the “explicit plan for extension of the current footprint of the ice centre”, Ms Day explained.

But according to Shaun Dawson, Chief Executive of the LVRPA, the Authority has “no intentions” to build on Leyton Marsh.

“We carried out a feasibility study to look at how best to improve the provision of ice skating, ice hockey and other related activities,” Mr Dawson said.

“The study’s provisional findings are that a business case for a new ice centre exists and that the best location would be where it currently is.

“It is not the Authority’s intention to encroach north onto Leyton Marsh but to use the land within the curtilage of the current venue and car parks.”

‘Broken promises’

But Save Lea Marshes has warned that the new development could easily spill out of the footprint of the existing site.

It claims the LVRPA would only need to seek permission at a later date for a variation of its planning condition.

Ms Day said: “We tend to judge the LVRPA more by its actions than by its words.

“There were key promises made about the Leyton Marsh site in 2012 that were not kept, including that the land would be restored to its original condition and that the site would be fully accessible by October 2012. It was not.”

A spokesperson for Waltham Forest Council, the planning authority that will consider LVRPA’s eventual application, said: “Waltham Forest Council is aware of these plans and we support the principle of retaining this important leisure facility in its current location.

“With the opening of Lea Bridge Station earlier this month, a new international standard ice centre will be crucial to revitalising the Lea Bridge area for all residents.

“As one of the greenest boroughs in London with award winning parks and open spaces, we remain very clearly committed to protecting these green spaces as much as possible.”