Campaigners vow to fight on to save Eastney Swimming Pool after changes to Bransbury Leisure Centre Plans
Campaigners have expressed delight that Wimbledon Park Sports Centre has been saved - and have vowed to continue their fight over Eastney Swimming Pool.
Members of the Eastney Pool Redevelopment Campaign group responded to Portsmouth City Council’s revamped proposals to build a new Bransbury Park Leisure Centre which, if approved, would provide a 25-metre pool, a learner pool, a gym, a fitness studio, and a relocated GP surgery.
Originally, the new centre was designed to replace both the Wimbledon Park Sports Centre and the historic Eastney Swimming Pool, meaning both would be demolished. However, as previously reported by The News, this is no longer the case for Wimbledon Park with new proposals for it to operate using a new sports hall at Priory School.
Campaigners had been urging the council to reconsider its plans, emphasising the historic and community value of both facilities, believing hat investing in Wimbledon Park and Eastney was a better and cheaper option.
A spokesperson for the campaign group that their aim is to “save sports facilities and rate-payers’ money.”
“Therefore, we are very pleased with the council’s U-turn on demolishing the popular, well-attended Wimbledon Park Sports Centre,” the spokesperson said. “The council’s claim that there would be no loss of sports facilities was never tenable.
“The campaign will continue as the council still plans to demolish Eastney Swimming Pool and build a £22 million replacement, resulting in the loss of six sports courts in Bransbury Park,” they added.
“This is despite their own figures showing it would be half the cost to refurbish Eastney Pool with a learner’s pool, disabled access, new changing rooms, etc. This will also save trees and green open space in Bransbury Park.”
Planning permission for the Bransbury Park plans is still being sought and have been revised to address concerns raised by residents and Sport England. Under the latest amended proposals the existing, dilapidated changing pavilion in the southeast of the park will be replaced with a new facility located closer to the leisure centre which can be used for the football pitches and the new ball courts. The existing pavilion site would then be returned to parkland.
Council leader Councillor Steve Pitt said these revised plans would be more financially and environmentally sustainable “than the previous offer in the area.”
According to council planning documents for the Bransbury facility, Eastney Pool has “reached the end of its life cycle” and faces challenges with limited transport links. The decision to close the pool permanently followed a public consultation on refurbishment costs held in February 2021.
Built in 1904 as part of the Royal Marines’ Barracks, Eastney Swimming Pool is known for training the “Cockleshell Heroes,” who famously canoed up the River Gironde in 1942 to attack Nazi ships.
If the new pool is granted planning permission, the council plans to consult the public on future uses for the Eastney site, which is currently designated for watersports and leisure.