www.swimmingpoolnews.co.uk IN BRIEF
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UPGRADE RATHER THAN REBUILD
A planned £2.5m investment to build a new swimming pool at a Devon local leisure centre now looks as if it will collapse through a lack of funds. Ivybridge Leisure Centre has received £1m from South Hams Council but has been unable to secure the further £1.5m to build the new indoor swimming pool. The original recommendation was for a new six-lane, 25 metre pool. Tone Leisure say the £1m might now be used to upgrade facilities at the centre.
ROOF PROBLEMS SHUT POOL
A deteriorating roof has caused the closure of a teaching pool in St Helens for up to six months.
Planned repairs at Parr Swimming and Fitness Centre have been brought forward as officials fear rain and strong winds have accelerated damage to the roof structure.
PROBLEM TILES FORCE CHAMPIONSHIP SWITCH The planned closure of the troubled DG One leisure complex in Dumfries, Scotland has forced major swimming championships away from the town. Specialists have been called in to conduct in-depth surveys into ongoing problems with the development.
A four-day swimming contest has been switched from the site. Serious defects with the £17m facility, related mainly to the tiles in the pool, are expected to result in its closure before the end of the year, a decision which means the National Swimming Championships, lined up for December, will be moved to Inverness.
IndustryNews OCT 2011 SPN
5559
4,674 POOLS FOR THE PUBLIC TO USE IN 2011, REPORT CLAIMS
Public sector swimming pools are increasing in the UK – despite the economy and local authority cut backs. An insight into the state of the public swimming facilities in the UK, comes with the publication of the ‘2011 State of the UK Swimming Industry’ report.
It shows among other things, a decline in the number of private swimming pools and an increase in the public sector pools – in the 12 months up to the end of March 2011. Over the year, 37 new swimming pool facilities opened with 10 opening at private health clubs, and 27 opening at public sports centres. Other statistics in the report show there are: • 2,769 pool facilities at public sports centres
• 1,905 pool facilities at private health clubs
• The report doesn’t include pool facilities at hotels or holiday venues
The report says 84% of the UK population live within two miles of a public or private swimming pool. Andy Reed, Chair of Sport & Recreation Alliance and independent board member of the ASA, said: “This is a valuable report for all of us concerned with sport and recreation. We know that swimming remains a massive participation sport and activity, but we still need to grow the market and the numbers participating regularly. Reports suggest that latent demand for swimming remains high so providing
this kind of detailed information can help us all plan to meet this growth. It is good to see that the pool stock remains relatively stable but we will want to monitor this situation continually as public sector reductions in funding could have a significant impact in the future.” Sean Holt, Chief Executive of the Institute for the Management of Sport and Physical Activity, said: “These figures aid us all in planning and providing relevant services to the sports and leisure sectors and enabling us to meet the opportunities arising from the Olympic momentum.”
“Swimming’s popularity will only be heightened with the 2012 Olympics and we need to ask whether we have the facilities and programmes for a true Olympic legacy,” commented David Minton, director of The Leisure Database Company.
The south east region has the highest number of swimming pool facilities per region in the UK with
Northern Ireland being the region with the least number of pools. A full regional breakdown of where the pools are located by private and public sector is provided in the report.
The report also includes an overview of other facilities available to the public at the swimming pool sites, the age of the swimming pool stock and an overview of the pool refurbishments where the percentage of each pool types that has been refurbished and the percentage of changing room refurbishments are reported.
COMPANIES ASKED TO PITCH FOR BIRMINGHAM POOLS RENOVATIONS
Specialist pool companies are among those being invited to bid for the right to carry out a multi-million pound makeover of Birmingham’s community swimming pools and leisure centres.
The city council wants to draw up a preferred list of companies to deliver a major overhaul of the city’s sporting facilities and has stressed the work needs specialist skills. The first scheme involves a competitive tender process to build
a new community swimming pool and leisure centre in Sparkhill, where the baths have been closed since the summer of 2008 after asbestos was discovered in the roof.
Swimmers were initially warned they faced a three-year wait until the Sparkhill pool could be rebuilt, but the new baths will not open until 2013. Firms on the list will sign a Framework Agreement with the council, allowing them to compete against each other to deliver more
than 20 leisure projects. The value to the Birmingham construction industry could be in excess of £100m. Leisure cabinet member Martin Mullaney believes competition will save the council money by driving down the cost of renewing sports facilities.
The new Sparkhill baths will consist of a 25 metre six lane pool with seats for 40 spectators, a learner pool, dance studio, fitness suite and a community room.
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