Trilogy Leisure declines to respond to further concerns about Danes Camp leisure centre in Northampton

A charity which runs multiple leisure centres in Northampton has declined to comment after Chron readers raised concerns regarding 'dirty changing rooms, ‘cold pools', price increases and ‘shocking’ experiences.

The Chronicle & Echo ran a story on December 4 about a father who vowed never to return to Danes Camp Leisure Centre, in Hunsbury, after his 18-month-old daughter was left 'shivering' and 'teeth chattering' because of the temperature of the pool.

Trilogy Leisure, which is contracted to manage council-owned facilities in the town, responded saying: "We are sorry to hear that one of our customers is concerned about the temperatures at one of our pools."

However, once the story went on the Chronicle & Echo's social media platforms dozens of people left comments, raising a number of different complaints.

Issues included the Danes Camp centre feeling outdated, unclean, blocked drains and having “disgusting smells” in the changing room. Many other readers backed up the father’s concerns over the coldness of the pool.

One reader said: “I go to Danes Camp every week on the 50+ session and it has been getting colder in there all year. Some of us complain and we get the same response, 'within temperature guidelines'. Then this week all prices were increased [in December]."

The Chron summarised the issues raised by readers in a series of questions to Trilogy Leisure. Some of those questions are listed below:

How much have energy costs risen in the last 12 months?

How much, as a percentage, does heating the pool cost in relation to the overall costs of running the centre?

Why does the temperature have to be reduced - or are there other efficiencies that could be introduced to cope with the rising costs? Is it a last resort?

Expand on what are the guidelines around pool temperatures?

Do they change for different sessions i.e. are they warmer for baby classes etc?

How many degrees has the temperature been reduced to save money? Is this at the minimum or is it higher than the minimum? How does that fluctuate?

How hard is it to maintain temperatures in a pool?

How often are the changing rooms cleaned during the day?

Has the cleaning contract been reduced to save money?

Why are prices going up if the service provided is reportedly declining?

Trilogy responded saying they would not be commenting again and referred Chronicle & Echo to its previous response (below).

John Fletcher managing director of Trilogy Leisure said: "We are sorry to hear that one of our customers is concerned about the temperatures at one of our pools

“Like many other successful businesses and organisations we have recently conducted a thorough audit and developed a framework to ensure we reduce energy consumption and our impact on the environment.

"Some of the necessary actions we’re taking to reduce our carbon footprint while ensuring our members can continue to enjoy using our facilities is the management of the temperature levels in our swimming pools, gyms, and studios but our customers can be assured that we bench-mark those temperature levels and adhere to the nationally recognised carbon trust guidance.”

There have also been reports that other pools around the county have low temperature levels including Daventry Leisure Centre, which is run by Everyone Active – the company that also runs the new Moulton leisure centre.

Jamie Brightwell Everyone Active’s contract manager said: “We adhere to the pool water treatment advisory group guidelines, which state that a swimming pool should be between 26 and 32 degrees.

“Whilst we have reduced our temperatures to help save energy, they all remain within these guidelines. Our pools cater for all types of customers – from athletes to babies – and we try to maintain a balance to ensure the temperatures remain comfortable for everyone.

“However, as an organisation, we are facing significant increases in energy costs – an issue impacting the whole country – and a one-degree reduction in pool temperature can result in a saving of up to 10% in energy use. This will go a long way to helping us manage energy costs in the current climate.

“This is a situation we are continually reviewing and we will take customer feedback on board, as our key aim is to keep people active in the local communities we serve.”