<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1619789815/projects/leevalleyicecentre/a0bc5b5c-b797-4c98-8f04-31ccc788606b.jpg" />We wanted to let you know that our Board has given approval for work to start on the transformation of Lee Valley Ice Centre into a new world class venue. They agreed a funding package which is now being sent to Government for its approval – something required by the Act of Parliament which governs the Park Authority. Our Board’s decision means that the new venue which will be built in one phase and will open around a year earlier than we had first planned.Designed by award-winning FaulknerBrowns Architects, the £30m regional centre will be the only venue of its kind in the south-east of England, and one of only three Olympic-sized twin rinks in the UK.It will be built on the site of the current venue in Lea Bridge Road, Leyton and will have two Olympic sized rinks side by side – both larger than the rink at the current centre which will hugely increase our capacity. It will also have:<li>a café</li> <li>gym</li> <li>exercise studios</li> <li>community space</li>The new development will create a highly sustainable centre. It will be accompanied by significant improvements to the environment around the centre through new tree planting, some green roofs, reedbeds, native meadows and native shrub planting. The enhancements will result in a 30% increase in biodiversity<img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/v1619794415/projects/leevalleyicecentre/935da03b-349b-46be-a919-df5cb7579231.jpg" />The current venue, in a normal year, attracts 279,000 visitors. The new Lee Valley Ice Centre is expected to attract 500,000 users annually, bring £1.5m of extra investment to the area, and around 45 jobs.Because of Government Coronavirus restrictions, Lee Valley Ice Centre is currently closed except to under 18s who are being coached and to clubs. This will, subject to the Government’s lockdown roadmap, hopefully expand to over 18s who are being coached on 17 May. The current centre will then close completely on 27 June. Construction will last around 15 months, and we expect to open the new centre in October 2022.We hope the new venue will become a place where people will come not only to skate, but to socialise and relax, and will be a meeting point for walkers, runners, cyclists and families using the surrounding green space.We’ve already been in touch with coaches and clubs based at Lee Valley Ice Centre and are working with them to put in place a package of support to help them carry on with their training during the 15 month construction period.Moving forward, email updates about the new Lee Valley Ice Centre will no longer be provided via this Commonplace website - <a href="https://protect-eu.mimecast.com/s/I098CgZVmHE1KjIZndAw?domain=visitleevalley.org.uk">instead, you can sign up to the new email list, managed by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, by clicking here</a> and ticking ice skating .

Lee Valley Regional Park Authority Board gives final approvals: Construction work due to start this summer

London’s first ever Olympic-sized twin-pad venue set to boost sports and leisure opportunities for communities across the region <img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/commonplace-digital-limited/image/upload/c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:eco,w_1024/v1582534541/projects/leevalleyicecentre/912d4d5f-ed5e-491f-9be8-3e729c4e1294.png" />Plans for an all-new ice sports venue in East London, which would accommodate more than half a million visits a year and increase community participation in physical activity, have been submitted to Waltham Forest Council. The new venue would replace the popular current single-pad Lee Valley Ice Centre which, after 34 years of use, is nearing the end of its operational life and struggling to meet demand. Ice skating in east London will be lost unless the venue is replaced.If the plans submitted by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA) are approved, the new Lee Valley Ice Centre – on the site of the current centre on Lea Bridge Road, Leyton - will become the first twin-pad venue in the south of England, with two Olympic size ice rinks, a new gym and exercise studio open to everyone. In addition to accommodating a range of sports for all ages and abilities, from ice skating to ice hockey to curling, visitors would also be able to enjoy the venue’s new cafés and community spaces. The new centre has been sensitively designed by FaulknerBrowns Architects to improve, enhance and create a landscape that is attractive to both visitors to the centre and those visiting the surrounding parkland. The designs also have sustainability at the heart with a significant amount of native planting and innovative energy, construction and water re-use methods.The cost of physical inactivity in the London Boroughs of Waltham Forest and Hackney is £107 million each year. Socio-economic research commissioned by LVRPA shows that the twin-pad centre would produce an estimated annual health benefit of at least £16.2 million, due to more people being physically active at the centre and improved social cohesion with all ages from all communities enjoying the new venue. It would also help reduce crime and anti-social behaviour across the local boroughs through the provision of additional ice activities and community programmes for young people, which lessen social exclusion and create a safe space for the whole community. The current Lee Valley Ice Centre is one of the most popular ice-skating venues in the UK. It is open seven days a week, for up to 19 hours a day, and accommodates around 279,000 visits a year from across London and the wider region. Around a third of visitors are from Waltham Forest and Hackney.Almost a third of skaters at the current Lee Valley Ice Centre are from a Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic background, and women and girls make up around 60% of visitors – groups which are often underrepresented in sport and physical activity <a href="https://leevalleyicecentre.commonplace.is/news/add#_ftn1">[1]</a> . The proposed new centre with its two ice rinks would provide twice the ice for communities to participate in sport, with its position as the first twin-pad in London also attracting regional and national audiences, along with a busy regional, national and international event programme.Lee Valley Regional Park Authority chief executive Shaun Dawson said:“We’ve taken our time to listen to communities and ensure that the feedback they have given us has been incorporated into the designs.“This scheme would create a new Lee Valley Ice Centre that would be somewhere the whole community feels welcome. It is vital that this scheme is given the green light, otherwise this wonderful community activity will be lost for good. We are confident we have demonstrated that the new centre will not only provide an exciting place for young people to get involved in sport but will also enhance the physical and mental health of people of all ages, locally and from across the region. The improved landscape will better open up the green space around the centre for everyone to enjoy.”The plans have received overwhelming support from the local community. There were a total of 1,360 responses to the consultation over the summer in 2019 and over 80% of responses supported plans for the all-new ice centre, which include:<li>Two Olympic-sized ice rinks, doubling capacity to 557,000 visits per year and offering skating, ice dance, ice hockey, curling and speed skating;</li> <li>Improved facilities including a new gym, exercise studio, a public café acting as a setting-off point for walkers, runners and cyclists, and community spaces open to everyone;</li> <li>Capacity for 800 spectators and an events programme;</li> <li>Transformed surrounding landscape and significant new native planting, increasing wildlife and opening up access to the surrounding green spaces;</li> <li>A high quality, attractive and sustainably designed building which would be a huge improvement to the current centre, with innovative use of construction, energy and water methods;</li> <li>Less car parking spaces and increased bicycle parking (compared to the current venue) to encourage sustainable travel and reduce traffic pollution.</li>Should the application be approved, LVRPA aims to begin construction mid-2021.17-year-old Carlos, who has been skating at the centre since he was three years old, said:“Lee Valley Ice Centre has been a massive part of my life for the past 14 years. Whether it’s been skating or volunteering, I’ve always felt part of the community at the centre. It’s also important for the community - there are a lot of clubs that use the ice centre. It has given me a platform to meet many like-minded people and has given me confidence and has allowed me to keep fit and physically healthy. I don’t know what I would do without it.”Eddie Joseph, Coach at Lee Valley Lions Junior Ice Hockey Club, said: “Working with young people at the centre is amazing, it’s great to see young people from aged 4 up to 18 getting active and really committing to a sport. We’ve had some great success and I’ve seen first-hand the impact that this can have on the lives of young people. The planned new ice centre will allow clubs like us to reach even more people in the local area, which can only be seen as a good thing.”To show their support for the new Lee Valley Ice Centre, members of the public can respond to the formal consultation being run by the London Borough of Waltham Forest by emailing <a href="mailto:dmconsultations@walthamforest.gov.uk">dmconsultations@walthamforest.gov.uk</a> , quoting #194162 to provide your feedback. Find out more about the plans at <a href="http://www.icecentreredevelopment.com/">www.icecentreredevelopment.com</a> , or get in touch with the consultation team on <a href="mailto:LVIC@communitycomms.co.uk">LVIC@communitycomms.co.uk</a> or 0800 093 1716.

Plans submitted for £30 million regional ice centre in east London

Over 80% positive responses for new Olympic-sized twin rink venue to replace ageing Lee Valley Ice CentreAn overwhelmingly positive response has been received for major plans to create a stunning new ice skating destination in east London. The sustainably designed twin rink ice centre would replace the ageing Lee Valley Ice Centre on its current site, which is at risk of closure.Over 80% of responses to the consultation positively supported the plans for a new ice centre, which include a new café, gym, dance studio, community spaces and environmental enhancements to the surrounding landscape. A total of 1,360 contributions were received on the dedicated <a href="http://www.icecentreredevelopment.com/">digital engagement</a> platform, which asked users for their views on the proposals, as well as what areas should be prioritised for the new ice centre as the plans progress. Key feedback included:<li>Public facilities such as a new café, increased ice and continuity of ice were selected by respondents as the most important features to be incorporated in the designs; </li> <li>Wildflower meadows, walking routes through the existing woodlands and outdoor seating were respondents’ top three priorities to be included in the landscape plans.</li>The new centre, which would cost around £30 million, would double the amount of ice currently available and would also expand the offer to include a gym and dance studio. It would operate in an entirely new way, acting as a gateway to award winning nearby open spaces of Lee Valley Regional Park. The inclusion of a café, open to people visiting the nearby marshes and community spaces would open up the centre to everyone, providing a setting off point for walkers, runners and cyclists.The surrounding landscape would be transformed, replacing areas largely devoid of ecological value with significant native planting. This would not only increase the wildlife in the area but would also be a vast aesthetic improvement. The new venue would be designed with sustainability at its heart, with innovative energy, construction and water re-use methods a key part of the designs.LVRPA is aiming to submit a planning application for the new ice centre in the coming months, with a view to commencing construction in early 2021 should planning permission be received.Lee Valley Regional Park Authority chief executive Shaun Dawson said: “We are delighted to have received overwhelmingly positive responses to our new venue from local stakeholders, ice users and the community.“We know how vital both Lee Valley Ice Centre and the wider opportunities for leisure and physical activity are in this part of London.“We’re proposing a fantastic new ice centre, which would enable many more people to get active on the ice, as well as use the gym, dance studios, café and community spaces. We believe these opportunities would benefit people from the local Waltham Forest and Hackney communities, across the capital and from the wider region.“We will continue to engage with the community and look forward to reporting back on how the public’s views have helped shape our proposals ahead of planning submission in October.”Neil Mattinson, Director at landscape architect LDA Design, commented: “The enhancement of the biodiversity and landscape surrounding the site are at the heart of our plans for Lee Valley Ice Centre. The creation of new habitats and significant ecological enhancement will protect existing wildlife and flora as well as encourage a greater bio-diverse range of native species to the site and its surroundings.” Jess, 20, has been skating at Lee Valley Ice Centre for more than 10 years. She shared what Lee Valley Ice Centre means to her: “I think Lee Valley Ice Centre is so important not just for the skaters but also the wider community, especially in east London, where the ice centre is. It provides a safe and fun environment for young people to be able to meet and socialise – there aren’t many other options like that for children these days.”Westminster House Youth Club’s Director, Katie Worthington said: “Lee Valley Regional Park Authority’s Community Access Fund has enabled us to come from Peckham to visit Lee Valley Ice Centre on numerous occasions, giving our young people the opportunity to try ice skating, in many cases for the first time. Being able to bring our young people to the centre is really important because it opens their eyes to sports and activities, they otherwise would never be able to access or have exposure to. Having a brand new facility with two ice rinks will give the community even more opportunities to get active.”Irfan Akhtar, Assistant general secretary at the Waltham Forest Islamic Association, said: “We feel the enhancements planned for the new ice centre, as well as being aesthetically pleasing on the outside, will encourage many people to use the facility. Opening up the centre to non-ice rink users via the café is another good idea that should maximise use of the new facility. All this ties in with the Borough’s drive for healthy living, community cohesion and celebrating the best of what makes us strong: our diversity.”The public consultation on the plans for a new twin rink Lee Valley Centre was launched on 26 June 2019 and concluded earlier this week on 1 September 2019. During this period, members of the public were invited to have their say on the plans by visiting the website, <a href="http://www.icecentreredevelopment.com/">www.icecentreredevelopment.com</a> or dropping in to one of four public events that took place across Waltham Forest and Hackney. For any queries about the new plans or the consultation, members of the public can get in touch via <a href="mailto:LVIC@communitycomms.co.uk">LVIC@communitycomms.co.uk</a> or 0800 093 1716.

Huge appetite for brand-new ice skating destination for London

Lee Valley Ice Centre is one of the most popular ice-skating venues in the UK. We are planning a new centre. Have your say about the development.