Petition Seeks Improvements at Local Leisure Facilities
'Dire standards' at New Chiswick Pool and Brentford Fountain Leisure Centres
Sinks out of action at New Chiswick Pool. Picture: Charlotte Kimpston
|
A local resident has set up a petition over what she describes at the ‘dire standards’ at local leisure centres. The petition is 'to drastically improve the facilities at Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre and New Chiswick Pool as soon as possible'.
Charlotte Kimpston says she has been lobbying for improvements for some time and has had two meetings with representatives of Hounslow Council and Fusion Lifestyle to resolve the problems she believes customers (and staff) face. Fusion Lifestyle is the company that manages the facilities on behalf of London Borough of Hounslow.
Rust in the roof above the training pool at Brentford Fountains. Picture: Charlotte Kimpston
She says that despite these efforts there have been no improvements in the standard of repairs, hygiene and general maintenance. She wants Hounslow Council to authorise the necessary improvements and increased maintenance.
According to Mrs Kimpston some of the continuing issues are the roof leaking at Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre, unusable lockers, security issues, staff shortages resulting in cancelled swimming lessons, broken or filthy gym equipment, no lights in the showers and inconsistent pool or air temperatures. Despite all the problems she lists, she says that membership fees continue to increase ever year.
Hounslow Council did consider a £68 million redevelopment of the Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre back in 2017 with funding provided the sale of the site to developers and moving the facility to the adjacent Citroen site with housing above which would have been developed in partnership with London and Quadrant.
A disabled shower that has been without a curtain or shower for some time at Brentford Fountains. Picture: Charlotte Kimpston
A Hounslow Council cabinet meeting in 2016 was told that the 30-year-old facility would not be fit for purpose in another few years. It was planned to complete the new centre by 2021 but the scheme fell through.
The 2.2 acre site where the current centre is situated, which also includes a car park, would be of considerable value if released for residential use, use way above its last valuation of £3.85million in 2009.
We asked Hounslow Council for comment but did not receive a reply.
Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism. Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets. We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more. However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do. We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area. A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site. One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute. If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor. For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site. |
July 28, 2019
