APPENDIX 34
Memorandum submitted by the London Borough
of Enfield
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Enfield Council welcomes the opportunity
to submit evidence to the Select Committee as an opportunity to
reinforce the Council's support for the staging of the 2005 World
Athletics Championships at Picketts Lock and to set out the Council's
interests in the development of the national athletics centre
which will provide the venue for the Championships.
1.2 Picketts Lock is situated to the east
of the borough between Edmonton and Ponders End which are both
areas of considerable deprivation. The site itself is part of
the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority which owns and operates
the site. However the London Borough of Enfield is the local planning
authority.
1.3 Historically, the Lee Valley in general
and the Upper Lee Valley in particular formed the manufacturing
heartland of London. However, its industries became a victim of
the general decline in manufacturing, the speed and scale of which
were greatly exacerbated by the recession of the late 1980s and
early 1990s. Since 1994, the area has benefited from European
Objective 2 funding and, over the last few years, significant
progress has been made in halting that decline, promoting new
investment and in tackling the legacy of high levels of unemployment.
1.4 For example, much work has been undertaken
to reposition, diversity and re-brand the area as an attractive
one for business, making use of its excellent strategic location.
London's first full blown Science Park is currently being developed
at Innova Park in North East Enfield, two miles to the north of
Picketts Lock. Innova Science Park is the home of the London Business
Innovation Centre (LBIC), established by Enfield Council in partnership
with Middlesex University. The LBIC has a focused remit to identify,
develop, fund and exploit new ideas for the creation of high-growth,
wealth and job creating business within London and is the most
successful of a network of more than 150 European Union Business
Innovation Centres in 22 countries.
1.5 The Council is working as a partner
to the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and UK Athletics to
ensure that the 2005 World Athletics Championships is staged successfully
in a newly built national athletics stadium. The stadium plus
other facilities, including a high performance centre for athletics,
will together form the national athletics centre and be the home
of athletics in this country. The council has agreed, in principle,
to give financial revenue support for the operation of the stadium
in return for tangible benefits to local people some of which
are explored below.
2. STATUTORY
RESPONSIBILITIES
2.1 The Council has two key statutory roles
in relation to the project:
2.1.1 As the local planning authority—Picketts
Lock falls within the boundaries of the London Borough of Enfield
therefore it will be the Council which determines the planning
application for the stadium and its associated facilities (subject
to the powers of direction of the Secretary of State for the Environment,
Transport and the Regions and of the Mayor of London). The Picketts
Lock site is designated in the Council's unitary development plan
(UDP) as located within the Green Belt, an area of special character,
an area of archaeological importance and an area of community
need. The Council, in working closely with the Lee Valley Regional
Park Authority and UK Athletics to assist the project, is taking
great care not to compromise its role as the planning authority
and has produced a Picketts Lock Planning Brief as supplementary
planning guidance in order to spell out planning policy in this
area.
2.1.2 From the current stadium project plan
an application for outline planning permission is anticipated
in May of this year. Since this development is of such importance
to the country the Council is urging the Government Office for
London and the Greater London Authority to work with the Council
to achieve early agreement on the principles of planning policy
relevant to a Picketts Lock planning application. This should
be done well in advance of submission so that the application
can be decided with the speed necessary to deliver this nationally
important project on schedule.
2.2 As the local licensing authority—under
the terms of the 1975 Safety In Sports Grounds Act the local authority
is obliged to set up a safety committee comprising all of the
statutory emergency services and, on the advice of the committee,
to issue a general safety certificate which permits the use of
the stadium for events. The Council has already set up a "shadow"
safety committee which is currently working with the design team
for the stadium to ensure that safety issues are considered throughout
the design process.
3. REGENERATION
3.1 The Council regards the hosting of the
World Athletics Championships in a newly constructed national
athletics stadium as a major regeneration opportunity for the
borough and the north-east London sub-region. The World Championships
will raise the awareness of the borough and give it a positive
profile provided government and the various partners work together
to ensure that Picketts Lock is seen as the right venue. It is
not a second best option arising from the decision not to accommodate
athletics at Wembley for 2005. Rather, it offers the prospect
of a stadium, purpose built for the 21st century, specifically
designed for athletics. Not only is this good for sport but it
will, in turn, have a positive impact for London. In addition,
the World Championships will attract many thousands of visitors
to the borough and it is important that they gain a good impression
of the area, enjoy their stay, and hopefully return in the future.
The Council will play a leading role in making this happen.
3.2 In the longer term the Council is committed
in its support for the long-term success of the stadium and associated
facilities. There are two mutually interdependent and reinforcing
issues that will determine the scale of the longer term regenerative
impact of the stadium. In the first instance, the design and content
of the stadium will determine the patterns and type of use after
the 2005 World Championships. The greater the flexibility of use
and ancillary facilities that can be built in to the greater the
long term commercial viability and thereby its impact on the local
and sub regional economies.
3.3 Secondly, the future commercial viability
of the stadium is inextricably linked to the improvement of the
local transport infrastructure. The existing transport links in
the area are relatively poor which is why 90 per cent of people
visiting the existing Picketts Lock Leisure Centre come by car.
Enfield Council views staging the World Championships and the
location of the national athletics stadium as an important catalyst
for the promotion of two transport infrastructure schemes:
3.3.1 Rail infrastructure improvements that
will open up better links with Stansted Airport, the expansion
of which is expected to generate thousands of new job opportunities
in the next few years. A new station at Picketts Lock, which together
with improved rail links, would significantly increase the attractiveness
of the area to business and access to employment opportunities
for local people.
3.3.2 The Northern Gateway Access Road (NGAR)
linking the North/South Road (on which the stadium is sited) to
the M25 to the north of the borough. This will improve congestion
on local roads and substantially open up the northern Lee Valley
to the Stansted/Cambridge corridor and beyond.
3.4 It is anticipated that the stadium will
create significant employment opportunities in a variety of different
ways:
3.4.1 Direct jobs—through design and
construction of the stadium and also at the new Middlesex University
campus at Tottenham Hale which will provide the accommodation
for the athletes in 2005;
3.4.2 Linkage jobs—arising from the
sourcing of goods and services for the stadium at both the construction
and operational phases. The extent of these will depend on the
structure of the local economy. The Council will seek a clear
commitment to local procurement wherever practicable;
3.4.3 Multiplier jobs—generated through
spending in the local economy of salaries and wages by those employed
directly and indirectly during both the construction and operational
phases;
3.4.4 Induced jobs—created as a result
of spending by visitors in the local area additional to any spend
at the venue. These jobs would generally be anticipated in the
hospitality and retail sectors but could also benefit local transport
providers.
3.4.5 Indirect jobs—in addition to
the jobs created by the stadium and its operation the area could
benefit from upgraded rail infrastructure which will improve links
to the City and Stansted.
3.5 A socio-economic impact assessment has
recently been commissioned by the Council and other partners to
provide a more informed view of the employment opportunities and
the quality and depth of the local skills base against anticipated
needs. The assessment will also look at the ability of local companies
to respond to the commercial opportunities that may arise from
the stadium development.
4. EDUCATION
AND LEISURE
4.1 In order to build the athletics stadium
the Picketts Lock Leisure Centre will have to be demolished. This
building, owned and operated by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority,
has over one million users each year of which 60 per cent are
borough residents. The Council will strive to ensure that the
new stadium plus the high performance centre will provide facilities
for local people, and has given, in principle, support for revenue
funding on this basis. The Council views the stadium and World
Championships as a way to improve the profile of sport and fitness
within the area and will work to ensure that this is built into
health improvement strategies.
4.2 Facilities are likely to include the
use of the warm-up track plus health and fitness facilities. For
those users of the leisure centre who cannot be accommodated the
Council and the Park Authority will work together with the objective
to re-provide their activities at other local facilities. Enfield
Council will be opening a new leisure centre in early 2002 which
is within three miles of Picketts Lock. In addition, the current
swimming pool at Edmonton, a mile from Picketts Lock, will be
demolished and replaced with a new pool and sports hall and this
should be ready by 2004. It is hoped that these two centres will
be able to accommodate the majority of the current leisure centre
users.
4.3 Clearly local schools will want to make
the most use of the facilities especially to train and compete
in after school athletics at the venue of the World Championships.
Other stadia around the country are used by local schools as the
base for homework clubs to encourage children to continue with
self study beyond the school day.
4.4 Schools in Enfield and across London
will also have the opportunity to maximise the World Athletics
Championships within the delivery of the curriculum where opportunities
exist for developing links between the event and, for example,
the national strategies for literacy, numeracy and ICT. Links
with schools in other countries across the Internet coming to
the Championships in Enfield could be included in the curriculum
delivery of information technology, history and geography as well
as numerous links with science, physical education, health, and
citizenship education. These opportunities will involve a wider
audience across London who could potentially benefit from the
interactive learning opportunities, materials and information
generated from the Championships. Enfield would strongly support
a London wide approach to this development and would play its
part in ensuring that the World Athletics Championships are seen
as a major stimulus to the curriculum for all young people.
4.5 Beyond this the stadium could be the
catalyst for a north London sports action zone and also stimulate
the development of a sports college in the area. This, in turn,
could promote the development of a network of sports colleges
across north London. The stadium could also play an important
part as a venue supporting in-service training for teachers and
coaches to raise standards in athletics and a variety of other
sports.
5. CONCLUSION
5.1 Enfield Council has a statutory role
as the local planning authority and local licensing authority
for Picketts Lock and will undertake these roles impartially and
rigorously.
5.2 The Council welcomes and supports the
development of the national athletics centre, at Picketts Lock,
and is working to ensure that it can be accommodated within national
and regional planning policies and the policies of the UDP. The
Council views the development as being in accordance with its
strategic plan for the regeneration of Eastern Enfield and of
the Upper Lee Valley.
5.3 The Council asks that government takes
a proactive role to ensure that there is good co-ordination, so
that when the planning application is made the Government Office
for London and the Greater London Authority can make their decisions
over their powers of direction in the minimum possible time.
5.4 Enfield Council is looking forward to
welcoming the world to the Athletics Championships in 2005 and
to use this as an opportunity to show how sport can be a catalyst
for health improvement, social and economic regeneration.
5.5 Finally, the Council wishes to encourage
government and other regional partners to vigorously promote Picketts
Lock as the best venue for the World Championships.
February 2001
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