Woolwich Waterfront pool could close until summer
Waterfront leisure centre operators Greenwich Leisure Limited (trading as Better) and Greenwich Council have responded after a overhead pipe fell from the ceiling into the centre’s main pool last week.
The pool at Woolwich waterfront has since been closed and the statement reveals that full opening may not occur until summer. The statement says:
“The pool area at the centre is currently closed following an incident last weekend involving a section of ceiling pipe which came loose. The incident happened while the centre was closed, and no staff or members of the public were injured. The rest of the leisure centre is still open.
Following further investigation into the incident, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and GLL are discussing plans to bring forward the planned essential repair works through a phased approach.
Cllr Miranda Williams, Cabinet Member for Culture, Leisure and the Third Sector, said: “The Waterfront Leisure Centre is now over 30 years old and as promised, we will invest £1.4million to make sure the facility is safe, up-to-date and fully operational while we build the new Woolwich Leisure Centre. Considering the incident at the weekend, it is necessary for us to begin those works immediately and ensure there is good-quality leisure centre provision for Woolwich residents.”
Mark Sesnan, CEO of GLL said: “We apologise to Waterfront Leisure Centre’s swimming customers for any inconvenience caused by the temporary closure of the pool hall. When finished, these maintenance works will improve the reliability of the pool hall facilities and the customer experience. The Waterfront is a popular facility greatly valued by the local community and we are committed to getting these works completed as soon as possible.”
Royal Borough of Greenwich and GLL are currently in discussion about how the repair works will be carried out and an estimated timeline. The aim is to have the whole of the pool area back in public use by summer 2020.
The Waterfront Leisure Centre will remain open until the new Woolwich Leisure Centre opens, which we expect to be complete in 2024. We are continuing to invest and maintain the Waterfront Leisure Centre in the interim.”
Why has this place got the excuse for being 30 years old for everything that goes wrong with it. The swimming pool at The Glades in Bromley is around the same age but doesn’t seem at threat of being beyond use any time soon. Do Bromley maintain their leisure facilities ‘better’ than Greenwich?
Bromley absolutely do maintain their leisure facilities much better than Greenwich.
The Waterfront Leisure Centre is filthy and in a poor state of repair. I cannot see the point in spending a million pounds on a building that is due for closure when the new Leisure Centre is built.
Even more concerning is that Greenwich Council state they have no money so cutting vital servcies to the disabled and vulnerable people and increasing social care charges to disabled people.
But Greenwich Council have suddenly found 1 million pounds to give to Greenwich Leisure to repair this building. Which if the building was properly managed maintained and cleaned would not be in this state in the first place.
Sadly in a few years the Eltham Centre will probably be in the same state as the Waterfront Centre in Woolwich.
Agree with Graham
£1.4m and counting. The money will be spent, the work won’t be up to standard, the contractor will not have fulfilled their total obligations and RBG will spend the same amount of money again next yr noting they intend to demolish the building………..anyone want to take a bet that’s the likely scenario over the next 12 months.