The plans

Site plan for Jubilee Gardens - sports facilities in mid top right.
This is the development that will replace the Jubilee Sports Centre if Westminster Council (WCC) sticks to its plans.

There are 20 town houses and 64 apartments; and the 12 existing social rent properties will be replaced, but 7 of them will be priced up to 'affordable housing'.  With 1-2 bed properties already reaching £800k+ in the area, the luxury homes will be beyond the reach of any local families even the squeezed middle.

Jubilee Gardens Caird Street elevation
There are major concerns about a 5 story tower block overlooking Queens Park Gardens.  Two of the three Councillors on the Planning Committee expressed strong concern about its impact on the Conservation Area.

Jubilee Gardens from Queens Park Gardens
WCC will also knock down the Moberley Sports Centre (technically in Brent but owned and operated by WCC) and replace it with a new £23m sports centre:  A pool the same size as the Jubilee, a small teaching pool, a boxing club (to replace All Stars on Harrow Road), studios, spa and sports hall.  There are to be 72 luxury apartments and no affordable housing.

Moberley elevation onto Chamberlayne Road
Westminster's partner Willmott Dixon will use a portion of their profit on the new developments, to pay for the sports centre.  The Greater London Authority has a target of 30% social housing on new developments.  There is no additional social housing in this scheme at all.

WCC, developers Willmott Dixon, and architects engaged in what they considered to be extensive public consultation between 2012 and 2014.  WCC and Willmott Dixon launched their plans in March 2012, in July nearly 6000 people (about half Queen's Park's population) signed petitions against the demolition of the Jubilee, a month later Westminster's Deputy Leader Robert Davis gave the go ahead for the scheme.  As a result of the consultation, a 3/4 size sports/community hall was added into the Jubilee development.

One of the biggest concerns about the project (aside from residents feeling ignored) is the apparent lack of transparency in this big calculation: how much is likely to come in from sales, what will it cost and who will get the profit and how will it be split. It is understood that there is no profit split equation once the project breaks even given the market conditions at the time of sale and the money that comes in, hence the 'risk' to the developers.

At one public meeting WCC and the developers were asked by a member of the public to comment on a conservative notional sum:

     Sale of housing             £130m
     Cost of sports centres     £30m
     ---------------------------------------
     Gross profit                  £100m

Out of this gross has to come the cost of building the housing, which could leave at the least £50m net profit.

They weren't 'able to comment' on the confidential financial arrangement they have with WCC.  In fact many questions put to WCC over 2 years were refused due to 'commercial sensitivity' despite these developments being on publicly owned land.  

In addition, instead of the new sports centre being at no cost to the Council - and therefore residents - WCC will now pay £1.8m of the building costs; and a further £60 k a year.

The loss of the Jubilee Pool and sports facilities is worrying given the social need and the fact it was built after a period of social unrest in the 70's and 80's, The need is still there. The Moberley outside sports pitch has been replaced by one at St Augustine's in West Kilburn, but there is concern over whether children from Moberley or Queen's Park will feel safe going there given rival territory tension.

2011
1970's

Many feel WCC should be able to fund the refurbishment of both sports centres, maybe adding housing to help fund it.

There is great concern over the lack of social housing in the scheme. Many point to the fact that WCC has a large fund for housing projects that it is reluctant to spend. Some people feel that WCC are trying to gentrify, even socially engineer the area.

Once this facility is lost, it will be lost forever.

It is currently owned by YOU.

What do YOU think - tell us on the questionnaire here.

For the full set of plans for both Moberley and Jubilee see the link here

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