Temporary ice rink
The new temporary ice rink on Brixton Station Road in Brixton is now open.
The location of the temporary ice rink can be found on the Brixton Explorer Map. Further information on opening times and prices can be found at www.brixtonicerink.co.uk.
On 26 July 2011, Lambeth Council Cabinet agreed to use the former Pope's Road car park in Brixton as the site for a temporary ice rink, whilst a permanent new rink is built in Streatham.
A planning application for the temporary ice rink submitted by Tesco was approved by the Planning Applications Committee on 2 February 2011, along with an associated application to vary the original section 106 agreement for the Streatham Hub. Documentation for the committee is available, as well as answers to some frequently asked questions about the temporary ice rink.
About the Pope's Road site
The site of the former car park is on the corner of Pope's Road and Brixton Station Road, next door to Brixton Rec and has excellent transport links. Plans include a pick-up and drop-off point, as well as parking, for ice rink users.
A temporary rink should increase the number of visitors to Brixton and consequently increase number of potential shoppers for the market and other retail outlets.
The temporary planning application for the ice rink will be for up to three years. During this time the rink will provide an active use for the site while longer-term options are explored.
What about parking in Brixton?
The temporary ice rink development will include parking for ice rink users, as well as a re-located market traders' car park.
There are no plans and no funding to re-provide a multi-storey car park at Pope's Road once Lambeth's ice rink relocates to the new permanent rink in Streatham in 2013. The Brixton Masterplan identifies the long-term plan for the site as a mixed-use development, which could include parking.
General parking arrangements within the town centre have been reviewed to identify any additional parking spaces. If it were to be developed as a surface-level car park, the Pope's Road car park site would have provided 66 spaces. We will reprovide this through:
- 36 new free one-hour parking bays on Brixton Station Road, Valentia Place, Saltoun Road and Rushcroft Road available from June 2010
- a new temporary off-street car park to open in December 2011 on the corner of Buckner Road and Porden Road to provide approximately 33 spaces.
A new parking map giving easy-to-use information on where you can park in Brixton town centre is now available on the parking pages.
How was the decision made?
In March 2010, Lambeth Council's Cabinet considered a report which recommended that Streatham Common be further investigated as a suitable site for a temporary ice rink, whilst a permanent rink is built as part of the Streatham Hub.
Further research undertaken between March and July concentrated on three shortlisted sites: Streatham Common, 512/522 Streatham High Road and Pope's Road in Brixton.
When considering possible sites we looked at a number of suggestions from officers, councillors and residents. We have had to take into account ease of access for visitors, technical matters such as suitable drainage and power supply, along with the costs and timescales associated with developing land.
Although we would have preferred to locate the temporary ice rink in Streatham, the Pope's Road site is the most suitable site for a number of reasons.
- The disused car park on Pope's Road is already in council ownership and earmarked for demolition. The site can be made ready for development reasonably quickly and could see a temporary ice rink up and running next summer.
- Council ownership of the site means that development costs can be kept down, allowing us to concentrate investment in the permanent leisure facilities.
- This town centre location, next to Brixton Rec, already accommodates a large leisure facility and has excellent transport links.
Other sites considered
Other Streatham sites that were considered included Streatham Common, 512/522 Streatham High Road, Stockport Playing Fields, St Julian's Farm Road SW16 and Valley Road SW16.
Details of these sites and the reasons why they were rejected can be found in the 26 July Report to Cabinet.
Other sites outside of Streatham that were considered included Brockwell Park, Somerleyton Road (temp school site), Coldharbour Lane (opposite Barrier block of flats), Clapham Common, Knight's Hill (former Lambeth College site in Norwood), Tooting Common (near public Lido) and Crystal Palace.