New council homes could be on the way in Battersea as part of a plan to keep the local sports centre open for longer than anticipated.
In 2015 it was agreed that Battersea Sports Centre would remain open until when the site would be needed for demolition and rebuilding, potentially early next year, to rehouse residents while new council homes are built at the nearby Winstanley and York Road estates.
However, the council has now begun the process of potentially buying another site, on Shuttleworth Road, for residents in the regeneration’s first phase instead. This would enable the sports centre to stay open until when there is greater contractual certainty for when a new and much larger replacement leisure facility will be built beside York Gardens as part of the regeneration.
The independently-owned site at Shuttleworth Road adjoins land the council already owns. Previously, both sites were to be sold together for private development.
The Winstanley and York Road scheme will reprovide all council homes on the estates at social rents, and build 100 more on sites nearby, potentially including Shuttleworth Road, as well as hundreds of new properties for market rent with longer tenancies, and for below market rent, along with the new leisure centre and expanded health and education facilities, paid for by building housing for sale.
Cllr Paul Ellis, Cabinet Member for Housing, said:
“This new site is needed to help enable the redevelopment of the Winstanley and York Road estates, backed by 70 per cent of respondents to a 2013 consultation, and to provide new council homes for social renting. It also extends our pledge to keep Battersea Sports Centre open for longer than was considered possible last year.
The Wandsworth way to estate regeneration is to ask residents what they want for their neighbourhood, reprovide all council housing on site and more, offer genuinely affordable home ownership, and improve residents’ quality of life through employment, training, arts and health initiatives.”
