What doesn’t work well at current sport and leisure centres

• Interviewees reported that Eastney Swimming Pool has no access for disabled people or those with limited mobility.
• The only way to get into the pool is a vertical ladder, which causes issues for less mobile and elderly people. Some members of the naturist swimming club said that they stopped going because of the poor access.

“…We have had more elderly ones stating that there’s the reason they could no longer come along. They can’t cope with the vertical ladder into the pool.” (Halcyon)

• A lot of interviewees described Eastney Swimming Pool and Wimbledon Park Sports Centre as old and outdated.
• The pool in particular was described as “very old” with a lot of issues and in need of rehabilitation or modernisation. Most of the people interviewed agreed that it needs to be replaced.

“…Of course, [Eastney Swimming Pool] is very dated, it’s not the best of facilities for the modern world either, and I think that’s a really key point. For all that it’s got a lot of history, it’s not a listed building, it’s nothing like that, it’s something that we have to bear in mind that there’s a large part of it where it needs modernising. It needs to be a better facility.” (Councillor)

“Wimbledon Park is way past its best and most people that use it understand the need to replace it.” (Councillor)

• A few other things that were reported negatively were:
  • the poor condition of the showers and changing rooms,
  • the lack of family changing facilities,
  • the temperature of the water, and
  • the fact that there is no shallow end.

“There wasn’t really anything that we liked about [Eastney Swimming Pool] to be honest with you, purely because, I don’t know if you’ve ever been there yourself, but you’re constantly being dripped on and the facilities there, the showers, are not great. There’s a whole load of downfalls.” (Octopush Junior)

• A few people reported that Wimbledon Park sometimes suffers from condensation and ventilation problems.

“It’s quite an old floor and there have been occasional problems with condensation, so the ventilation. But in saying that in general [Wimbledon Park Sports Centre] is much better than most other sports halls so even with those problems it’s still generally a better sports hall.” (Southsea Badminton)

• They also mentioned that the courts are too close together which could cause accidents.
• The large hall at Eastney Community Centre was also described as a poor facility, along with the 3G surface/MUGA.

“The 3G is shocking. So the MUGA surface is shocking, almost to the point where I think it’s dangerous even though it has been redone. I think [the Eastney Community Centre] just needs love.” (Pompey in the Community)