Golden Lane Estate Sports Hall Saved – But Quality of Alternative Provision During Closure & Poor Oversight Of Grants For Community Cohesion Still Need To Be Addressed

At the City of London council Community and Children’s Services Committee meeting last week (30 June 2026) Helen Fentimen (chair) and Steve Goodman (deputy chair) changed course on their plans for for the refurbishment of the Golden Lane Leisure Centre after massive pushback from local residents. Rather than ripping out the sprung wooden floor of the sports hall and installing gym machines, this popular facility will remain as it is. The discussion can be viewed from 29.27 on this link. Local Democracy Reporting Service journalist Ben Lynch provided excellent coverage of this aspect of the meeting for My London News, so there is no need for us to elaborate on that. What does require emphasis is that Fentimen and Goodman have yet to admit that they were wrong to close the leisure centre at least 8 months before the refurbishment is due to begin – especially as the alternative provision during this closure is in many regards inadequate – we will focus on one issue related to that below.…