Southwark planners vote on 9 September on releasing £442,947.75 from an Old Kent Road flats deal, taking the Brimmington Park sports budget to £2.63m.

Southwark councillors decide on Wednesday 9 September whether to release £442,947.75 towards rebuilding the sports facilities at Brimmington Park, off the Old Kent Road. If they approve it, the budget for the scheme rises to £2,625,947.75, which is the full estimated cost of the project.

The money comes from the Section 106 agreement attached to the redevelopment of the Aldi site at 840 Old Kent Road, completed in January 2026 by Metropolitan Thames Valley housing association and now 171 affordable homes above an Aldi store. The original obligation was £359,160, index linked; with indexation and the balance, the council has been paid £442,947.75.

Officers are recommending approval. The report goes to Planning Committee (Major Applications) B, which under the council’s constitution has to sign off S106 spending above £100,000 where it is of strategic importance.

Brimmington Park is in Old Kent Road ward and borders Nunhead and Queen’s Road wards. It is a public open space off the Old Kent Road in SE15, with entrances on Old Kent Road and Culmore Road.

What the money buys

The report describes the site as two 5-a-side synthetic pitches, a derelict sports pavilion, a large area of hard surfacing, an old outdoor gym and two table tennis tables, and says it is “in poor condition and in need of investment”.

The redevelopment would:

  • demolish the existing sports centre building
  • put up a small replacement with accessible public toilets that unlock remotely, with no staff on site
  • replace both pitches with 3G artificial all weather pitches on keypad entry
  • add an open access Multi-Use Games Area, free to use
  • install floodlighting for the pitches and the games area, plus lighting on the path
  • include a playable and skateable square
  • remove hard surfacing to increase green space
  • turn the main north to south path into a shared cycle and pedestrian route from Old Kent Road to Clifton Crescent
  • relocate and refurbish the outdoor gym
  • improve the entrances on Old Kent Road and Culmore Road

Where the rest of the budget comes from

Two other pots are already secured, giving £2,183,000 before this week’s decision.

Stacked bar showing the Brimmington Park sports budget: £1,767,000 council capital and £416,000 Neighbourhood CIL already secured, plus £442,948 of Section 106 money being decided, totalling £2,625,948

Source Amount Status
Council capital, Football Facilities Programme £1,767,000 Secured
Neighbourhood CIL, secured May 2025 £416,000 Secured
S106, Old Kent Road ward £442,947.75 Being decided
Total £2,625,947.75

The council allocated £4m towards improving sports pitches in parks at Cabinet in July 2018, of which £1.76m was attributed to Brimmington Park.

Costs are split as £1,650,000 for the main works contract including a 10 per cent contingency, £705,947.75 for fees, surveys and other costs, and £270,000 for floodlighting and cycle path lighting designed and installed by the council’s own lighting team.

Free or paid

This is the part residents pushed back on. The report records that some respondents to the consultations argued all football sessions should be free. Officers say uncontrolled free access to the pitches at all times is “not feasible”, because the facility has to generate enough income to maintain itself.

What the council says will happen instead:

  • the Multi-Use Games Area will be free and open access
  • the business plan for the football pitches gives free access on weekdays from 09:00 to 17:00, which includes an after-school hour between 16:00 and 17:00
  • fees from those who can pay are intended to offset free or low-cost sessions run by community clubs

Officers also answered a concern that the free weekday slots fall mostly during school hours, saying they will work with local schools and community clubs to promote the 4pm to 5pm slot.

The finished facility is forecast to bring in net income of roughly £25,000 to £42,000 a year. The £42,000 figure assumes two pitches and no staff on site; £25,000 is the council’s conservative estimate given unknown maintenance costs.

Why officers say it is needed

The report sets out the case on population and health:

  • Old Kent Road ward grew from 16,770 residents in 2011 to an estimated 19,369 in mid-2024, up 15.5 per cent, against 9.2 per cent across Southwark
  • the Old Kent Road Area Action Plan proposes another 20,000 homes and 10,000 jobs over 20 years
  • around 25.8 per cent of children in the area are overweight by ages 4 to 5, rising to 41.8 per cent by ages 11 to 12, against England averages of 21.8 and 37.7 per cent, according to the council’s Healthy Weight Strategy 2022 to 2027

Officers warn that without investment the facility could deteriorate to the point of being closed off.

An Equalities Impact Assessment completed in June 2026 fed changes into the design, including variable-height basketball hoops from 1.5m to standard, a 4.5m wide shared path at a maximum 1:20 gradient lit to 50 lux, and wheelchair companion bays beside new concrete bleacher seating.

The park sits in flood zone 3. A Flood Risk Assessment concluded flooding is likely in the highway areas outside the sports facility site rather than on it, and sustainable drainage will be built into the design.

What it means for you

  • This week’s vote is about money, not permission to build. The council’s own project page says the next step after the current design work is to “prepare a planning application”, so there will be a separate chance to comment on the scheme itself.
  • The facility will shut during construction. No dates are given in the report. The council says public stakeholder communications will keep people updated on the closure and the reopening.
  • Three consultations have already run, in 2019, 2020 and 2026. The council says it is still reviewing feedback from the latest one and will publish it on its consultation hub.
  • To get updates, the council asks residents to join the project mailing list by emailing leisureprojects@southwark.gov.uk.
  • The meeting is at 6.30pm on Wednesday 9 September in Ground Floor Meeting Room G01A, 160 Tooley Street, SE1 2QH. Planning meetings are usually live streamed; space in the public gallery is limited and a ticketing system may apply, so contact the constitutional officer named on the agenda to attend in person.

The graffiti area was a sticking point in earlier consultations. Officers say they intend to keep the graffiti art where possible, such as on the railway arches.

Sources

Other applications in the area are tracked on our Dulwich planning news page.