Wanstead Youth Centre conversion moves closer after meeting

Redbridge Council wants to install new classrooms, a community cafe, two playrooms and a sensory room in the rear sports hall at Wanstead Youth Centre, which has been dormant since last October.

The converted building will also feature a dining hall and a “multi-purpose practical space,” while the recording studio and middle gymnasium will be retained.

However, the decision has been heavily criticised by local residents.

Liz Martins, who has led a campaign to ‘save the Wanstead Youth Centre', said it would be a “travesty” to build on the “only remaining sports hall in the west of the borough”.

Wanstead Youth Centre is set to be turned into an education hub (Image: Redbridge Council)

Council officers said it was the “most cost-efficient” option and could be adequately funded. The alternative option of converting the middle gym and keeping the rear sports hall was discarded due to costs.

The council is eyeing a September 2025 completion date, which sceptical members of the overview and scrutiny committee called a “brave ambition”.

The town hall decided to close the centre last September due to a “significant” running cost of £86,000 per year and an estimated refurbishment cost of £2.4 million.

Former leader Jas Athwal said at the time: “What we want to do is make sure that people are not left with nowhere to go overnight because the facility closed down because something broke.

“What we want to do is manage that closure and then what we want to do is bring something back as soon as possible.”

Speaking as a public participant at Tuesday's meeting (October 8), lead campaigner Liz said the youth centre had been “sitting empty and neglected” and urged the council to “preserve [the] invaluable asset”.

She added: “How much has it cost us, the taxpayers and residents, for it to have sat empty and unused [since October 15 2023]?”

She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that “hundreds of children have been denied the opportunity to participate in gymnastics and other sports,” which was impacting their physical and mental health.

Though she had initially submitted a question, Liz was only allowed to read out a statement – which no councillor responded to – and was sternly admonished by committee vice-chair Beverly Brewer for any deviations.

After the meeting, Liz said she felt the process had been “absolutely appalling” and “undemocratic”.

The scheme is expected to be signed off at a cabinet meeting on Monday (October 14), having now been approved by the committee.

According to the council’s own timeline, the plans would be drawn up between October and January. Following a three-month design and consultation period, building work would commence in August.

Council officers have warned that public opposition could “potentially have an adverse impact” on the timeline, but hope to placate residents through “ongoing consultation and engagement”.