Ice rink supporters at the Town Hall last night (Thursday)

PROTESTERS gathered outside Islington Town Hall last night (Thursday) to demand the council keep the Sobell Centre’s ice rink open.

The Tribune revealed last week how the council and Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), who run the centre in Holloway jointly, have discussed replacing the ice rink with a “mega adventure” soft-play zone.

A petition to save the rink – which was wrecked by flooding last August and needs repair – has gathered more than 4,000 signatures.

Last night, council chiefs met to decide whether or not to recommend the rink’s closure.

Berry Saunders, 23, a qualified figure skating coach, said: “I started skating at Sobell when I was four years old. My mum brought me because I was obsessed with ice skating, and we couldn’t afford to go anywhere else. My mum’s a single parent, and we’re working class, so being involved in a sport and able to afford it was so important.”

She added: “I’m mixed race, and a lot of skaters at Sobell at the time were also black. The lack of diversity in the skating community is apparent. It’s a real problem, the lack of affordability for working class and ethnic minorities – but we felt represented and involved at Sobell.”

She travels to Gillingham in Kent for ice time while the rink is closed.

Davina Victory credits the Sobell ice rink with her career as a figure skater and coach, appearing in Holiday On Ice and Disney On Ice.

She called the idea of the rink shutting down “devastating”, adding: “The soft-play area is just insulting. GLL and the council haven’t even tried to compromise or come up with other solutions. The adventure playground won’t cut it for the community, and there’s so many of those kinds of things around anyway. But ice rinks are a niche, and we’ve got one on our doorstep and it’s a breeding ground for hockey players and figure skaters.”

Councillor Benali Hamdache, leader of the borough’s Green Party, has said he opposes the soft-play area. “I understand the council is facing real difficulties. The flooding wasn’t planned, and the timelines are tight … But it feels like a foregone conclusion, and many residents feel the soft-play option is about maximising the council’s income, and not about creating a genuine multi-generational sports offering like the ice rink.”

Labour councillor Nurullah Turan, Islington’s health chief, said: “We know how important the Sobell Leisure Centre is to local people, and how devastating last year’s flood and the resulting closure of the ground floor has been. It’s now vitally important that we rebuild the centre to ensure that it serves local people of all ages and backgrounds, and our proposals seek to do just that.”

He added: “While it has been a much-loved facility for many residents over the years, the number of visitors is low compared to other facilities at the Sobell, and the proposals that we have put forward will help attract more visitors to the site.

“Furthermore, the opening of larger facilities, such as the new double Olympic-sized rink at Lee Valley and the rink at Alexandra Palace, would have led to a further fall in numbers. The proposals that we’ve put forward offer a financially viable, inclusive future for the Sobell Leisure Centre, and we look forward to hearing from local people during the consultation.”