The pool gallery at the newly refurbished Bath Sports & Leisure Centre has been closed, following the discovery of a serious safety issue involving protective barriers at the bottom of the seating area.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Ambrose
The issue was brought to light last Wednesday by concerned local mum Caroline Ambrose, who noticed the large gap at the bottom of railings in place at the bottom of the pool gallery’s seating area.
The gap, which building regulations say shouldn’t be larger than 100mm (10cm), is instead 230mm (23cm) which could lead to a baby or toddler crawling through and falling.
The gap was measured at 23cm | A water bottle was used by Ms Ambrose to show the scale of the issue
Ms Ambrose was watching her children during a swimming lesson at the centre on Wednesday 8th August when she noticed the gap. She reported the defect to a manager at the centre, who told her that he would action a solution immediately.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Ambrose
Over the next five days, Ms Ambrose documented her attempts to get the pool gallery closed on Twitter, explaining how she had contacted B&NES Council, GLL and Public Protection to help solve the problem.
After being advised by B&NES Council that the person in Building Control relevant to the refurbishment was away until Monday morning (13th August), Ms Ambrose then contacted Cabinet Member for Development and Neighbourhoods Cllr Bob Goodman and Council Leader Tim Warren in an attempt to get the gallery closed off to prevent a serious incident.
The cllr emailed to say they would action it before going on holiday the next day. Meanwhile, Public Protection called back. They'd made enquiries. The gap was "a mistake" and the area was being made safe as we spoke. I let the cllr know and had a few hours of relief.
— Caroline Ambrose ? (@caroambrose) August 11, 2018
The Public Protection team at B&NES Council allegedly advised Ms Ambrose during a telephone call that the gap was a ‘mistake’ and that the area was being ‘made safe’.
The gallery was initially partially closed | Photo courtesy of Caroline Ambrose
Later that day, on Saturday 11th August, Ms Ambrose says she was sent photos from a friend regarding the gallery, and described how a notice had been put on the door explaining that the front row of the seating area had been closed as a ‘precautionary measure’ and that ‘remedial works’ were required.
A stretch of red and white tape had also been put up across the gap, with plastic pedestrian roadwork barriers also being placed at intervals across the bottom of the gallery.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Ambrose
In a statement issued by Bath & North East Somerset Council, they said: “We can confirm that the balcony area has been fully closed off to the public.
“A suitable safety solution is being looked at by leisure centre operators GLL, the architect and the building contractor, with support from the Council’s Building Control and Health & Safety teams.
“Until this is rectified the balcony will remain closed to the public. The Council is committed to ensuring people remain safe. We were informed of this safety issue on Friday 10 August and immediately advised GLL to take action to close off the affected area to the public as a temporary measure until a permanent safety solution could be identified, approved and put in place. We have been informed by GLL of their actions to secure the balcony area.”
“We are grateful to the member of the public for raising this important issue with GLL and the Council and we share their concern to ensure public safety.”
In an email seen by the Bath Echo, Barnaby Rich, the General Manager at Better, the GLL brand that runs the Sports & Leisure Centre, tells Ms Ambrose that the ‘risk was not picked up on inspection by Building Control prior to opening the new facilities’ and explained that a solution was being sought to make the area safe for public access.
The centre manager emails to say he is looking into a solution to make the area safe for public access. That afternoon I email him, the cllr, and Public Protection attaching a photo of the tape etc to make sure they all know the danger has not gone away… pic.twitter.com/9M271wpLTy
— Caroline Ambrose (@caroambrose) August 11, 2018
Ms Ambrose visited the centre again on Sunday, 12th August, and spoke to the duty manager, who is said to have agreed that the area was not safe, but B&NES Council had inspected the temporary red and white tape ‘solution’ and had agreed to keep the gallery open until remedial works could be undertaken.
Just talked to a duty manager. He agrees it’s not safe but says Bathnes have seen the tape solution and agreed to keeping it open and he doesn’t have the authority to close the gallery
— Caroline Ambrose (@caroambrose) August 12, 2018
When questioned by the Bath Echo on the inspection of the tape by a member of B&NES Council, who deemed it a temporary ‘solution’ to the serious problem, we were told that they would “not be making any further statements at this time.”
The duty manager allegedly also told Ms Ambrose that he did not have the authority to close the gallery, and that safety of children at the centre was the responsibility of parents.
He says it’s the parents responsibility not the centres to keep kids safe.
— Caroline Ambrose (@caroambrose) August 12, 2018
Following further discussion with a member of the Better team at the centre, Ms Ambrose was advised that though B&NES Council had ‘insisted’ that the gallery be kept open, a number of judo mats were put along the barrier to prevent anything going through the gap below.
Photo courtesy of Caroline Ambrose
It was confirmed on Monday that the pool gallery had been closed to the public, with plastic cable ties being used to secure the doors. Work to provide a permanent solution to the issue is expected to commence shortly.
A spokesperson for GLL, the company behind Better, said: “We can confirm that the balcony area has been fully closed off to the public.
“We continue to work closely with the Council’s Building Control , Health and Safety Teams as well as our architects and contractors to make sure customers enjoy high standards of safety.
“Whilst no safety incidents had occurred, we took further advice from our architect on the design. Following this a temporary barrier was erected on Friday morning and on Sunday the balcony was closed to minimise potential risk whilst we prepare for design modifications and the Council’s building control to make inspections.
“Once amendments have been completed, the viewing gallery will be reopened as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience during these works.
“We take all customer concerns seriously – and we thank the customer for contacting us to raise this matter.”
BREAKTHROUGH! I’m at the pool and can confirm the gallery been closed… https://t.co/fCzXB6nPpw
— Caroline Ambrose (@caroambrose) August 13, 2018
The newly refurbished swimming pool was opened on Monday 23rd July following a multi-million pound refurbishment of the Sports & Leisure Centre by operator GLL and Bath & North East Somerset Council.
A Liberal Democrat councillor has now also called for a review of the Bath Sports & Leisure Centre refurbishment.
Councillor Richard Samuel (Walcot), Liberal Democrat spokesperson for community services, commented: “A serious defect of this nature should have been picked up by a detailed check before the pool was re-opened to the public.
“Either there wasn’t an inspection, or there was a very shoddy inspection, as this potentially very dangerous gap was missed. It’s shocking that the Council and operator were so slow in responding once the hazard was pointed out by Caroline Ambrose.
“At present, it’s not clear whether the Council or operator was responsible for giving the final sign-off to this multi-million pound refurbishment.
“I will be pressing the Cabinet member to investigate how this could have been allowed to happen and have written to the Chief Executive to request an investigation.”
