The Golden Lane Leisure Centre is to temporarily close eight months earlier than planned after the operator went into administration.
By Ben Lynch, Local Democracy Reporter
The Golden Lane Leisure Centre is to temporarily close eight months earlier than planned after the operator went into administration.
Fusion Lifestyle, which also runs Brockwell Lido, informed the centre’s owner the City of London Corporation of the issue last week.
The Golden Lane Leisure Centre, which is part of the listed Golden Lane Estate on the border with Islington, was due to close in December in preparation for a £10.4 million refurbishment. The news has however drawn disappointment including from the Corporation, with a spokesperson saying it will look to secure continued use of the tennis courts and identify alternative venues.
Paul Lincoln, a Golden Lane resident and former user of the centre, said the Corporation should bring forward the refurbishment to avoid it being closed longer than necessary.
The funding for the upgrades was approved after a number of “underlying external issues” were raised requiring attention. The planned works include replacing the roof, resurfacing the tennis courts and decorating the building’s interior.
At the time the funding was granted the Chair of the Golden Lane Estate Residents’ Association, Sue Pearson, said the refurbishment would “support the City residents’ health and wellbeing”.
The centre was expected to close in December with the works to begin the same month. The Corporation however yesterday announced that Fusion Lifestyle is entering administration, meaning the closure is having to be brought forward to April 30.
In a release the Corporation said the centre’s current condition together with the short time frame before the December deadline “meant no financially viable alternative to closure could be identified”.
Fusion is to end all memberships automatically from April 30 with users advised to cancel direct debits immediately.
For those who have prepaid their memberships, two options, a Section 75 claim or an unsecured claim, are outlined on the Corporation’s website.
Mr Lincoln told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “This is one of very few public swimming pools to be built in the heart of a housing estate. It used to be a great place to swim. It has been very poorly managed. Lambeth has acted quickly at Brockwell Lido following Fusion going into administration.
“I hope that the City of London will act quickly to bring the Golden Lane Leisure Centre back to life. It needs to bring forward its rebuilding plans to avoid the centre being closed for longer than necessary.”
A City of London Corporation spokesperson said: “Fusion Lifestyle, the operator of Golden Lane Leisure Centre, has informed the City of London Corporation that it has entered administration, resulting in the centre’s closure from the end of the day on Thursday, April 30.
“We share the disappointment that members and community groups who use Golden Lane Leisure Centre will have hearing this news and we are working to secure the continued use of the tennis courts, and to explore local alternatives for other users.
“In the meantime, the centre’s planned £10.4m refurbishment, which will be funded by the City Corporation, is in the design phase and will deliver a greatly improved facility for years to come. We will seek residents’ and the centre’s users’ views on these plans shortly.
“Work on this major project is due to begin in December and we have already begun the process to find an operator for the refurbished facility.”
Fusion Lifestyle was approached for comment.
The second of the company’s London sites, Brockwell Lido, is to be transferred to Lambeth Council from July 1. It will then be run through the authority’s in-house leisure service, Active Lambeth.
