Since 2021 Tower Hamlets Council has been plotting to get rid of the John Orwell Sports Centre, when it held a special meeting for Councillors to discuss its ‘leisure strategy’. Neither of your two Labour councillors attended. Early in 2026, a more detailed ‘site scenario’ was unveiled, which showed the centre being demolished and replaced with housing, leaving just the playing field behind. Over 175 flats are proposed, with vague promises to replace the sports hall and retain the gym.
Alex Brookes and Jane Emmerson, your local Conservative candidates for St Katharine’s and Wapping in the coming borough elections, are not opposed to building more homes, but the John Orwell Centre is the only remaining, large-scale leisure facility in our area. It is heavily used by local sports clubs, families and young people who enjoy the pitches, sports hall and gym and it plays a critical role in providing positive activities for young people to tackle inactivity, mental ill-health and help prevent antisocial behaviour.
The Council has recently granted itself planning consent for new facilities at the St George’s Leisure Centre in Shadwell. but this should not come at the expense of our well-used, local sports centre, here in Wapping. There is no clarity at all in the council’s proposals on how the John Orwell Centre might be replaced.
Alex and Jane would like to know what you think. We are opposed to the loss of these facilities and you can complete our short survey to help us fight the loss of our only local sports centre.
