Lewisham approves keeping Bridge Leisure Centre closed

[stuart]

At a meeting last night (January 13) mayor and cabinet approved plans not to reopen the Bridge Leisure Centre in Lower Sydenham once Covid-19 restrictions are eased.

https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/1901 ... re-closed/

[Sydenham Syd]

That’s a shame. Despite it being in dire need for a renovation it’s convenient for a large community and both of my kids have learned to swim there.

But seems like they’ve run the numbers and a 600k loss is not to be sniffed at especially as the council are pretty strapped as it is.

It’s a tricky one as it probably needs about 600k spending on it for the refurb.

[Robin Orton]

My wife and I used it regularly whilst FH was being rebuilt, and I've always thought of it as 'first reserve' for if and when FH closes to have its defective roof repaired. All seems a bit unreal now.

[broken_shaman]

Managed into the ground and now residents suffer the consequences.

I used to take my first born there for swimming lessons. Brilliant teacher left because of the mismanagement. They wouldn't run a class if they didn't have 3 kids, so you'd end up arriving to find out you just had to walk home again.

The cafe was pretty dire, but it was something and they had a small soft play room. So parents used to sit and have coffee and food while the kids played. Next they wanted £5 or something for the soft play, which wasn't worth it. Then they closed it. It was always just an empty room when I passed. Then the cafe was always closed.

Next they brought in parking charges after 90 minutes, further limiting the time you could spend there if you came by car.

The learner pool was actually leaking rain water from the roof, into the pool for over a year, the changing rooms were grubby, nobody wore the blue overshoes and there usually weren't any anyway. The last time I tried to go swimming with the second born, they told me the pool was shut because they didn't have anyone to staff it.

I was hoping the new contract would bring about positive change so it became a better place to visit. A cafe, the soft play, cleaning, reliable sessions. But no. So I guess that leaves an awful lot of schools in the area with no pool. Meanwhile, all the money has been spent on a open air lake that is essentially out of bounds to children.

Total fiasco.

[Sydenham Syd]

Managed into the ground and now residents suffer the consequences.

I used to take my first born there for swimming lessons. Brilliant teacher left because of the mismanagement. They wouldn't run a class if they didn't have 3 kids, so you'd end up arriving to find out you just had to walk home again.

The cafe was pretty dire, but it was something and they had a small soft play room. So parents used to sit and have coffee and food while the kids played. Next they wanted £5 or something for the soft play, which wasn't worth it. Then they closed it. It was always just an empty room when I passed. Then the cafe was always closed.

Next they brought in parking charges after 90 minutes, further limiting the time you could spend there if you came by car.

The learner pool was actually leaking rain water from the roof, into the pool for over a year, the changing rooms were grubby, nobody wore the blue overshoes and there usually weren't any anyway. The last time I tried to go swimming with the second born, they told me the pool was shut because they didn't have anyone to staff it.

I was hoping the new contract would bring about positive change so it became a better place to visit. A cafe, the soft play, cleaning, reliable sessions. But no. So I guess that leaves an awful lot of schools in the area with no pool. Meanwhile, all the money has been spent on a open air lake that is essentially out of bounds to children.

Total fiasco.

Totally agree, fiasco is the word.

[parker]

[quote=broken_shaman post_id=191859 time=<a href="tel:1610805969">1610805969</a> user_id=5696]
Managed into the ground and now residents suffer the consequences.

I used to take my first born there for swimming lessons. Brilliant teacher left because of the mismanagement. They wouldn't run a class if they didn't have 3 kids, so you'd end up arriving to find out you just had to walk home again.

The cafe was pretty dire, but it was something and they had a small soft play room. So parents used to sit and have coffee and food while the kids played. Next they wanted £5 or something for the soft play, which wasn't worth it. Then they closed it. It was always just an empty room when I passed. Then the cafe was always closed.

Next they brought in parking charges after 90 minutes, further limiting the time you could spend there if you came by car.

The learner pool was actually leaking rain water from the roof, into the pool for over a year, the changing rooms were grubby, nobody wore the blue overshoes and there usually weren't any anyway. The last time I tried to go swimming with the second born, they told me the pool was shut because they didn't have anyone to staff it.

I was hoping the new contract would bring about positive change so it became a better place to visit. A cafe, the soft play, cleaning, reliable sessions. But no. So I guess that leaves an awful lot of schools in the area with no pool. Meanwhile, all the money has been spent on a open air lake that is essentially out of bounds to children.

Total fiasco.

Totally agree, fiasco is the word.
[/quote]

Labour Lewisham cannot be trusted with money. It always goes back to this. Do other boroughs go on like this? The Pavilion Leisure Centre in Bromley is about 30 years old but is still standing and in working order because of good management and upkeep of facilities.

Why should Lewisham Council tax payers put up with the place being run into the ground and then given a bullsh1t excuse about it being unable to become ‘Covid compliant’, what does that even mean? Unable to implement one way systems throughout the building?

Who is going to take The Bridge over if the council don’t reopen it, nobody.

[stuart]

Bad News. Lewisham say "not fit for purpose" and to be permanently closed and sold for redevelopment? https://www.mylondon.news/news/south-lo ... d-21987738

[JGD]

A report commissioned by Lewisham Council estimates the cost of refurbishment at the site could be at least £2.4 million.

This includes repairs to fitness equipment and changing rooms, swimming pool maintenance, and possible excavation work to fix blocked drains around the main pool and changing areas.

An estimated £150,000 alone is needed for fixing leaks and surveying for asbestos works.

Rather than spending more cash to fix a site that was losing more than £400,000-a-year even before the pandemic, councillors will decide next week whether to keep The Bridge closed.

They will also consider proposals for a brand new complex in the south of the borough.

It is irregular to include the price of replacement fitness equipment in this form of examination of costs. Even if a new building is decided upon or a decision made to bring the existing building up to a modern maintainable standard, that equipment would be excluded from comparison studies of costed proposals as it would be viewed as an equivalent operating costs in both sets of proposals.

The key issues are:

• Is the existing building maintainable over, say, the next 25 years?

• Are the running costs of the building as efficient or could be made as efficient as any modern building (including heating, lighting, water recycling etc)?

• Are there ANY major items such as presence of asbestos, any major structural defects in the building and/or major defects in drainage that would have validated, prohibitive and separately identifiable costs that would provide clear evidence that the business case for retention is rendered unviable or unsustainable when compared with estimates for a replacement modern form?

It does not need stating that an identifiable need exists in Bellingham for a building of this size and comparable facilities provision that meets the needs of residents and businesses, including those from adjacent neighbourhoods.