Building’s maintenance programmes were “not followed” by previous operator leading to year-long closure, reports James Cracknell
The full extent of the maintenance issues plaguing Edmonton Leisure Centre have been revealed – one year on from its closure.
Roof leaks, fire safety failures, broken boilers, cracked concrete, worn-out lifts, exhausted ventilation systems, flooded basements, bursting sewage pipes and damaged swimming pool were all discovered by an independent inspection team hired in the aftermath of the leisure centre’s closure last December.
The faults are all detailed in a lengthy condition report put together several months ago by Nathan Blake of Martin Ralph M&E Engineers Ltd but only now revealed following a Freedom of Information Act request by the Dispatch.
Edmonton Leisure Centre was “temporarily” closed one year ago when Enfield Council transferred the management contract for all five of its leisure facilities from Fusion Lifestyle to Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL), under its brand name Better.
The decision to ditch Fusion, which had run the borough’s leisure centres for 13 years, came after a council report published in May 2023 stated the company’s finances had been “severely affected by the pandemic” and that Albany, Edmonton and Southbury leisure centres had begun to experience “a significant number of maintenance faults” impacting the availability of their swimming pools.
However, while the leisure centres at Southbury, Albany, Southgate and Arnos Grove were all reopened following a short handover period from Fusion to Better, Edmonton has remained closed ever since, with the council struggling to find the money needed to repair it.
It was revealed in October that the council had struck a deal with GLL to fund a £7.5million revamp, although Edmonton Leisure Centre’s lease will be transferred to the company as part of the deal, meaning it will need to operate on a commercial basis once it is reopened.
In the condition report obtained by the Dispatch this month, it was stated that the facility had “no building safety strategy” and “no evidence of an in-date gas safety inspection” with every single fire door either being faulty or “missing due to decay”.
Four roof leaks were recorded, with water damage to two sports courts being caused as a result. An electric mains switch room was suffering “significant water ingress” and “flooding” caused by “blocked rainwater outlets” serving the roof.
In the building’s basement, situated underneath the swimming pool, “the underside of the reinforced concrete floor slab” was “exhibiting transverse cracking and limescale stalactites indicating prolonged water ingress”. This was blamed on “long-term leakages corroding embedded steel reinforcement, expanding rust from which is displacing the concrete cover”.
The leisure centre was built in 2007 by developer St Modwen as part of a wider redevelopment in Edmonton Green that incorporated residential flats directly above. The condition report revealed that leaking sewage pipes serving these flats had caused “historic damage” to ceilings and floors at the leisure centre.
The building’s heating system was said to be “unable to maintain the pool target temperature of 27C because boiler number three would cut out during operation”. The first and second boilers were also said to be “unserviceable due to obsolescence and multiple faults”.
All internal ventilation equipment had “exceeded its indicative economic service life” and a dehumidification rotary wheel serving the swimming pool area had “seized” with “high levels of corrosion” being “attributed to excessive humidity levels due to the failure of the dehumidification process”.
As for Edmonton Leisure Centre’s toilets, “all sanitary appliances have reached the end of their economic life expectancy”, the report remarked.
All lifts in the building need replacing while, perhaps unsurprisingly, it was reported that “multiple maintenance programmes” were “not being correctly followed”.
Asked to comment on the inspection’s findings, Fusion Lifestyle did not respond.
The council was asked if it could provide updates on the repairs to the building and whether a date could be given for its reopening next year. Council leader Ergin Erbil, said: “The reopening of Edmonton Leisure Centre is a key priority for us. We are committed to ensuring everyone in the borough can access good leisure facilities and activities.
“We’ve invested heavily in our leisure facilities and the new leisure provision at Edmonton will show this.
“This is why we are working tirelessly with our partner GLL to resolve the many issues associated with the building and reopen the facility as soon as we can. Currently, GLL is undertaking enabling and compliance works, and we will have more details of the planned phased reopening in the new year.
“Regarding the concerns about the swimming pool, we are waiting for repair work to start before we can update further. However, the intention is to reopen the leisure centre with swimming as part of the mix of wide-ranging facilities and services at the centre.”
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