Hounslow Respond to Petition Concerning Local Leisure Facilities

Still exploring options for renewal of Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre

Sinks out of action at New Chiswick Pool. Picture: Charlotte Kimpston

Following criticisms regarding the facilities at Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre and New Chiswick Pool which include a petition set up by local resident Charlotte Kimpton that has gathered over 150 signatures, Hounslow have issued a statement in response:

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Cllr Samia Chaudhary, Cabinet Member for Leisure Services at Hounslow Council commented: “The London Borough of Hounslow is concerned to hear about the dissatisfaction with the service and facilities maintenance in two of its leisure facilities. LBH is working closely with its operator Fusion to ensure corrective actions are undertaken to resolve these concerns, whilst also having plans in place to bring about longer term improvements. Feedback from our customers is encouraged at all times and we use these comments to continually improve the service offer at our leisure centres.

“Fusion has robust systems and processes in place to identify and rectify any issues as quickly as possible on site. Cleanliness is of the upmost importance and in light of recent feedback, cleaning schedules have been updated to ensure standards are kept at the high standards of cleanliness we expect”.

The Council is still exploring options for renewal at this site and in the meantime the equipment at the facility will continue to be maintained. Some of the issues highlighted at Brentford Fountain Leisure Centre have been repaired, however the site is being inspected again to pick up any further current issues. Recently there was an issue with the temperature control at the Chiswick Pool which affected services for a period of 10 days whilst a replacement part was sourced; this repair is now complete and the site is back in full use. We apologise for the impact this delay had on services during this period and we will continue to work to ensure any outages are kept to an absolute minimum.

We recognise that Lifeguard shortages impacts upon the provision of pool services however public safety is of paramount importance. Unfortunately there is a national shortage of lifeguards spanning across all operators. To address this shortage, Fusion has funded lifeguard courses and promoted the role in order to fill vacancies; following the recent success of the first course where 11 lifeguards were recruited, further courses are planned this year.

August 6, 2019