New leisure contract for Lewisham?

[Nic]

Lewisham’s mayor and cabinet is set to award a leisure management contract behind closed doors on August 12 in an unscheduled meeting. The entire meeting will be held in private, with the only information available to the public that a decision on “permission to award a leisure management contract” will be made. The decision will be made behind closed doors “due to commercial sensitives” being discussed, a spokesperson for the council said.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1863 ... -contract/

Currently, Fusion has a 15 year contract until 2026 to manage all Lewisham leisure centres except Downham. 1Life have a 32 year contract (until 2039) to manage Downham Leisure Centre under a PFI scheme. The Fusion centres have not reopened post lockdown amidst rumours of financial difficulties.

[alywin]

My immediate thought was "please, not GLL".

[RJM]

My immediate thought was "please, not GLL".

I used to go to a GLL gym, it was pretty good - that was when I lived in Tower Hamlets about 5 year ago. Has it gone downhill?

[stuart]

The Fusion centres have not reopened post lockdown amidst rumours of financial difficulties.

Perhaps a blessing for the time being. Inside gyms and swimming pools would appear to be more risky places than exercising outside. The only reason they are allowed to open is probably pressure from commercial operators outgunning public health concerns.

Good to see the notably increase in street runners and cyclists instead. If only they didn't have to suffer from the rapid increase in congestion and pollution.

Stuart

[Robin Orton]

All right for the young and well-toned like Stuart, but swimming is the only feasible serious exercise available to us timid and arthritic old people.. So we need the pools open soon please, otherwise we shall all have strokes and heart attacks on the NHS and cost you youngsters big money. I'm sure the chlorine in the water kills all known germs.

[JGD]

I think there was a pre-lockdown piece of ugliness about Forest Hill Pool that occurred at a public meeting about the facility around an announcement about structural defects in the building.

Without prior warning to the public or Fusion or attending councillors, a council official turned up at the public meeting and peremptorily announced that structural defects had been identified within the building. To make matters worse the officer made excuses about not supposed to be in attendance at the meeting and promptly left with very little further explanation being offered.

Not at all clear whether Lewisham has made any progress with the original developer/builder since or made any additional public comment. Safe to say, a lot of good will, such as it may or may not have existed, walked out the door with the officer.

Not withstanding that event, the reason for the meeting being originally convened was to discuss the poor operational performance of Fusion. Hygiene, I seem to recall (or lack of it) was one key issue that users of the pool were complaining about.

Does anyone have an update on the Council's position on the new leisure contract ?

[Nic]

Still shrouded in secrecy, but looks like something's happening on 19 August:

"Having considered a confidential officer report, and a presentation by Councillor Andre Bourne, the Mayor and Cabinet agreed the recommendations as set out in the report by 7-0. The decision will become effective on 19 August 2020 unless called in by the Overview and Scrutiny Business Panel."

http://councilmeetings.lewisham.gov.uk/ ... 6338&Ver=4

[stuart]

All right for the young and well-toned like Stuart, but swimming is the only feasible serious exercise available to us timid and arthritic old people.. So we need the pools open soon please, otherwise we shall all have strokes and heart attacks on the NHS and cost you youngsters big money. I'm sure the chlorine in the water kills all known germs.

Tooting Lido: https://www.placesleisure.org/centres/tooting-bec-lido/ The playpool for all true anarchists my dear Citizen Orton

[JGD]

Stuart

How could you possibly omit reference to that classic utterance from John Sullivan's Wolfie Smith of the revolutionary Tooting Popular Front (the TPF), "Come the revolution, brother.......".

[Nic]

It's just been revealed by News Shopper's local democracy reporter that Fusion have been replaced by Greenwich Leisure (aka Better - who run Crystal Palace Sports Centre amongst many others)

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1867 ... es-fusion/

[Nic]

Fusion Lewisham have now posted an update on Lewisham leisure facilities. They say they will be in contact with members in due course about what the change means for their current memberships.

They also say:

"As Fusion Lifestyle step aside after ten years in partnership with Lewisham Council, it is important to note the contributions we have made to leisure in Lewisham. Fusion has helped significantly increase the number of people using the Borough's leisure facilities to well over a million visits per year. Fusion is proud of its achievements in Lewisham: the charity has funded investment of over £3M; commissioned and launched the new Glassmill and Forest Hill leisure centres and delivered cost savings to Lewisham Council of over £2.5M a year.

In addition to successfully growing the number of people using the centres and providing the Lewisham community with leisure facilities to remain active and healthy, Fusion has worked hard to deliver an inclusive and welcoming service for all.

Anthony Cawley, Director of Operations at Fusion Lifestyle, commented, "We are really proud of what we have achieved in Lewisham since we started our contract in 2011. We know how important leisure facilities are for the health and wellbeing of the local community and we believe that the initiatives we have undertaken in Lewisham have made a really positive difference to residents in the area.""

https://www.fusion-lifestyle.com/centre ... acilities/

[Sydenham]

Anyone know if Fusion membership will transfer as is or will there be changes to Ts and Cs - thinking about over 60s access?