Calls for action on Park Road Pool closures
The indoor pool and the Lido at Park Road Leisure Centre, Crouch End, have been closed several times since the centre was refurbished at the cost of £8m last year.
The Lido is one of the largest outdoor pools in London and is very popular in the summer. Local residents and a Lib Dem councillor are now calling for urgent action.
Cllr Pippa Connor wrote to the Labour-run council in June asking how many times the pools at Park Road have closed since the expensive refurbishment and the reason for the closures. She got the following response in July:
- The Lido was closed 3 times due to 'low water visibility following high user loads'
- The main indoor pool was closed 3 times due to the wrong levels of chlorine in the water
- In the last few weeks, some lanes at the Lido have closed again and the number of swimmers has been limited, due to the water in the pool turning cloudy.
Fusion, the contractor who runs the leisure centre on behalf of the council, has blamed flaking paint for the latest closures.
Monika Siemicka, a local resident who uses the pool regularly, comments:
“We have such a great facility here, it is a shame we can't use it to its full extent. Swimming is one of the best forms of exercise so the council should be encouraging people to swim, not preventing them.”
Pippa Connor, local Lib Dem councillors, comments:
“The Labour Cabinet need to take action now to fix the ongoing problems at Park Road pools. Since the expensive refurbishment there has been one problem after another. It is not good enough, local residents deserve better.
“The number of times the pools at Park Road have closed is unacceptable. It is particularly bad that the Lido is not fully open now, when the weather is hot and school children are on their summer holidays. It means lots of families who would love to use the outside pool can’t use it.”
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