Back from lockdown
LEISURE CENTRES AND PUBLIC HALLS BEGIN PHASED RE-OPENING
SOME of Hounslow’s leisure centres and public halls are re-opening this December after months of delays.
This will be the first time the borough’s six leisure centres and five public halls will begin a phased re-opening to the public since government guidelines allowed after the first lockdown from July 25.
Back in August, Hounslow Council bosses said they were working on coronavirus measures and planning a phased return for centres such as Heston Pool and Fitness, Osterley Sports and Athletic Centre and Hanworth Air Park Leisure Centre and Library - then run by Fusion Leisure.
But in September Hounslow’s leisure boss cllr Samia Chaudhary confirmed Hounslow Council would take over running the services by “mutual agreement” with Fusion, apologising to residents over delayed openings.
As of November 1, the borough’s leisure centres came under management from the council’s trading company, Lampton Leisure, while the public halls such as Chiswick Town Hall and Isleworth Village Hall came under council management.
The country then entered a second lockdown on November 5.
In an update in a council newsletter, a council spokesperson said: “Today (December 2) the Government’s national lockdown restrictions will lift.
“Although technically this means that public halls and leisure centres can officially re-open, Hounslow’s leisure centres and public halls will not be reopening on December 2.
“As you may know, before these venues were transferred successfully to Hounslow Council and Lampton Leisure respectively a month ago on November 1, we announced that the locations would be re-opened in stages throughout November and December.”
Isleworth Public Hall, Heston Village Hall, Wellington Day Centre, Chiswick Town Hall, Osterley Sports & Athletic Centre opened in the over the past few days. Heston Fitness is due to open today (Wednesday) and pools – on Monday, December 21
Details of the next phase will be released soon.
They said: “We have carried out extensive work to ensure our centres are well-presented and more importantly that we can welcome everyone back safely.
“Our sites will be deep cleansed prior to opening and we are installing safety measures such as handsanitiser stations and COVIDsecure signposting, which will ensure staff, members and hirers can keep safe and observe social distancing.”
Meanwhile, Hounslow Council has announced that a number of libraries across the borough have re-opened.
The libraries open include Beavers Library, Bedfont Library, Chiswick Library, Cranford Library, Feltham Library, Heston Library and Osterley Library.
Brentford Library was due to open its ground floor from Monday December 7 while the rest of the site undergoes a refurbishment.
Libraries at Hanworth and Isleworth Leisure Centres, and at Hounslow House are still closed.