MPs in row over lack of swimming pools in city
A political row has broken out in Portsmouth over swimming pools after Labour MPs criticised the city council’s ‘lack of ambition’ and ‘tired leadership’.
Dame Meg Hillier DBE, chair of the public account committee and Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan have met to discuss the absence of public swimming pools in the south of the city.
The MPs also took aim at the council’ s proposed Brans bury Park leisure centre which has been delayed.
Eastney swimming pool closed in March 2020, and the announcement was made later that year that the Pyramids pool would be closed. It has since been replaced by the Exploria soft play centre. The now-demolished Victoria baths on Anglesea Road were demolished in 2010.
Dame Meg, who went to school in Portsmouth, said: ‘I used toswi mat East ney Baths, I swam at Victoria Baths – for me, it was a great release to swim and now you can’t swim anywhere in the south of the city.
‘I look at big projects all the time, you have to have a really clear plan and a very good scope of the project.
‘The council said that they nailed down this leisure centre and yet there’ s no planning application.
‘A council like Portsmouth has a huge opportunity to help improve the health of residents and yet you can’t go swimming.’
‘We’ ve got to make sure that we’ve got more preventative work going on with the health service, the focus on the NHS shouldn’t all be about treatment. Mr Morgan added that most leisure and cultural facilities in the city are not‘ fit for purpose’.
‘I think the pandemic showed us how important investing in our health and wellbeing is,’ he said.
‘I think it’s outrageous that in the south of the city, people don’t have access to public swimming facilities. People are disappointed by the Liberal Democrats that are running the council, there’s tired leadership locally and a lack of ambition. They’ve promised the earth but they are yet to deliver.’
The leader of the council, Cllr Gerald Vernon-Jackson said ‘Portsmouth is very unusual in having the ambition to build new pools. It’s been slightly delayed because we’ ve got to redesign it to fit in a new GP surgery.’