Battle over whether skate park is village green heads for High Court

Campaigners seeking to protect the Southbank Undercroft skate park in London will argue in the High Court this week that the site should be registered as a village green.

Long Live Southbank (LLSB) said: “The case revolves around the legal interpretation of restrictions introduced by the Government last year on the right to apply to register village greens.

“It raises issues which have not yet been tested by the courts and the Open Spaces Society, a national amenity group, is also participating in the case, supporting LLSB’s stance.”

The High Court hearing is scheduled to last two days (6 and 7 March).

It comes just days after the London Borough of Lambeth confirmed that it had upheld its decision to list the Undercroft as an Asset of Community Value.

The Southbank Centre, which wants to carry out a major redevelopment of its ‘Festival Wing’ that would see a skate park provided in a different location, had appealed the council’s grant of the listing in July 2013.

Long Live Southbank campaigner Ben Stewart said: “We applaud Lambeth for upholding their initial decision to recognise Southbank Undercroft as an Asset of Community Value under the Localism Act.

“But we are however, very disappointed that the Southbank Centre CEO has indicated that they will be again be appealing Lambeth’s decision and that, unlike hundreds of thousands of people including the Mayor of London, the Southbank Centre does not recognise the significance of the Undercroft and its importance to the local and wider community.”

City law firm King & Wood Mallesons SJ Berwin is acting for LLSB.

Last month the Southbank Centre said it would withhold its planning application for the Festival Wing, after London Mayor Boris Johnson said the skate park should be retained in its current position in any redevelopment.

The centre’s board would “would undertake a final search for an alternative funding model to keep the widely supported Festival Wing redevelopment scheme alive”.