Members' anger at sports centre closure

By mcollison matt collison matthew.collison@essnmedia.co.uk

Flooding brought Dorking Sports Centre to a sudden close last week, depriving scores of people of the popular venue.

Leisure Connection, which runs the sports centre on behalf of Mole Valley District Council, closed the Reigate Road venue on Friday, August 21.

The centre remained shut over the weekend.

It was partially opened on Tuesday, but normal services were not expected to resume until Saturday.

Both swimming pools remained shut when the Advertiser went to press.

And from Tuesday, visitors had to use toilet facilities at the neighbouring Dorking Halls.

Angry members who made wasted journeys to the centre have criticised staff for not properly informing them of the closure.

Mike Briant who works in Church Street, Dorking, pays £32 a month to use the gym, but said he would now be asking for his money back.

"I am hoping they are going to give some sort of financial compensation.

"It is a regular lunchtime activity for me and I have had to walk all the way from the other end of town and there is nowhere else to go.

"No one has said anything to me. They are expecting everybody to wander up and find these notices on the door."

Whole families have also been affected.

Nick Torpey, of The Borough, Brockham, said: "It is a bit of a shame. I use it quite a lot. I do a lot of football coaching and my wife does fitness classes there and my boys swim here.

"It is a really good centre but they don't want to lose the customers."

Kim Jones, training officer at the Dorking Dive Club which meets at the sports centre every Monday night at 9pm, was more forgiving.

He said: "We were disappointed. We thought we could have been informed a bit earlier but we fully understand the reasons why it had to be closed and accept that."

The flooding is thought to have been caused by a faulty valve in the plant room.

Leisure Connection told the Advertiser the centre would be operating under a reduced programme until Friday, but hoped both pools, cafe, showers and toilets would be operational from 2pm on Saturday.

A spokeswoman for the company added: "We apologise for any inconvenience caused to our customers and members alike. Due to the flood damage to essential building operating systems we did have to continue the closure of the Sports Centre all day Monday."

Customers are advised to phone 01306 870180 for more details.