A further twist in the New Bermondsey development has been revealed after it came to light that the sports foundation made false claims about £2millon of funding.

Surrey Canal Sports Foundation, of which Lewisham Mayor Stephen Bullock is a trustee, claimed that they had confirmed the funding with Sports England, however the application was withdrawn in 2013 and no further application has been made.

A post on their website on March 22 last year states ‘Sport England pledge £2m towards facilities’.

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Screenshot from the Surrey Quays Sports Foundation website.

The sports foundation website has been taken down since the false claim was revealed in an investigation by The Guardian newspaper.

Steve Norris, Chair of the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation (SCSF) said:

“The Surrey Canal Sports Foundation approached Sport England in 2011 to seek a £2 million funding commitment for the proposed sports facilities at New Bermondsey. 

"Our initial application was placed onto Sport England's Iconic Facilities Fund. In October 2013 we received a formal letter from Sport England which referenced their ongoing support for the project and that the application was now being moved onto the Strategic Facilities Fund. 

"Whilst the SCSF has made significant progress over the past four years we have not progressed a more formal application since October 2013 due to the inordinate length of the Compulsory Purchase Order process and ongoing land assembly led by Renewal. 

"We are still awaiting the outcome of the CPO process but following this we intend to re-engage Sport England and will be making a formal application for funding in the coming weeks.”

A Sport England spokesman said: “In 2010 we received a funding application from the Surrey Canal Sports Foundation, but this was subsequently withdrawn in 2013. We therefore have no funding agreement, of any kind, in place with them.”

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This is the latest controversy to plague the Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) proceedings, which is set to be decided upon next month after a series of delays.

Millwall chief executive Steve Kavanagh has admitted he cannot rule out the Lions moving from the borough if the CPO goes through and the land surrounding Millwall Football Club’s stadium is sold to off-shore development company Renewal, which has historic links to Lewisham Council.

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