Sobell Ice Rink faces uncertain future after bombshell email revelations

Sobell Ice Rink faces an uncertain future after a freedom of information request revealed that senior figures in the local council are set against its restoration.

Sobell Leisure Centre, which sits in the London Borough of Islington, suffered serious flood damage in August 2022.

This forced the ground floor of the facility to close, with its trampoline park, soft play area, squash courts, sports hall, and ice rink impacted.

Islington Council – which runs the centre alongside operator Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) – unveiled plans to “upgrade” the facility in May.

However, these proposals – which are subject to a live public consultation – do not include plans to restore the rink, with Cllr Nurullah Turan citing economic concerns.

“Even before the devastating impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the rise in energy prices, [the rink] had been making a loss of £250,000 per year and the new Olympic-sized sheet at Lee Valley would only lead to its usage falling further,” he told the Islington Gazette.

Sobell Sabres Ice Hockey Club (Image: Save Sobell)

On Friday [30 June], emails obtained by the Save Sobell Campaign Group show that Islington Labour Party councillors and advisors set their position on the proposals before the consultation was launched on 10 May.

“I think it [would] be misleading to suggest that there’s more of an open consultation on the principles of the alternative provision,” wrote a communications advisor on 5 May.

In reply, an advisor to the leader of Islington Labour wrote: “Of course, we need to go ahead with the soft play option, but we need to at least make it look like we are listening… If we go out with the current PR [sic], we will face backlash from backbench councillors (and residents), including those locally to Sobell and that will make it extremely difficult for us to go ahead with what we want.”

An Uncertain Future for Sobell Ice Rink Users and the Local Hockey Community

Under the current proposals, Sobell Ice Rink users will be redirected to the Lee Valley Ice Centre.

However, critics say that the plan poses an existential threat to the local hockey community, with ice time availability and travel costs raised as major concerns.

“There are 53 people in our group [the Sobell Sabres] and I can categorically say that 40 of them will never go on the ice again if the rink is permanently closed,” Harry Bishop – who has skated at Sobell Ice Rink since 1998 – told British Ice Hockey.

“Closing the rink, which really does serve a very unique purpose compared to other rinks around London, would put so much pressure on other facilities that are already at capacity – which would exclude more people from being able to play.

“Trying to book a session as someone who has played at lots of different rinks was nigh on impossible and one of the gentlemen in the Save Sobell Group said that booking ice at Alexandra Palace is like The Hunger Games. There just isn’t enough ice time in London.”

Despite the uncertain future of Sobell Ice Rink, a petition in support of its restoration has amassed more than 5,000 signatures since February.

Sobell Sabres Ice Hockey Club (Image: Save Sobell)

Phil Edwards of Save Sobell added: “The decision has essentially already been made, the consultation is just an exercise to make it look as though they are listening and preserve their political reputation.

“You can’t just value [the rink] in financial terms, you have to look at social impacts and the value it brings to the community. It keeps people off the streets and gives them an activity to engage with that is productive.

“This will be the end of ice hockey for about 80 percent of our group and it could arguably be even worse for the figure skaters because their jobs are at stake. It is also difficult for future generations because it is going to be much harder to run teams for beginners out of other rinks because it is just more expensive.”