"We will not give up" - The fight goes on for Eastney Swimming Pool despite demolition of site beginning
“We will not give up”, is the message from campaigners who have been fighting to save Eastney Swimming Pool despite demolition crews beginning works to dismantle the site.
Campaigners gathered outside the pool this afternoon to share their anger after demolition crews arrived on site before planning permission for demolition was officially granted on Wednesday (October 1).
Roof tiles have already been stripped from the building which is set to be replaced with a new leisure centre at Bransbury Park - with the Eastney site then redeveloped for other types of water sport.
The campaign group is hoping that Portsmouth City Council will still reverse its decision, arguing that some of the works being carried out at the site would also need to have been done if the pool was instead refurbished.
“It is not too late,” said campaigner Tim House. “We are not going to give up, and this is not the end of it.”
He urged the council to “listen to what people want”, saying the pool was full of history for so many local people across the city, with he himself among the residents who learned how to swim there.
He said: “They want to turn it into a water sports centre, but what sort of water sports centre doesn’t have a swimming pool? We worry that the site will just be sold off and lost to retail, with maybe some businesses on site hiring water sports equipment. That is not a water sports centre.”
The group is also asking where some of the pool’s iconic equipment has gone - including its clock which they say could and should be preserved as a piece of the city’s history, with the site the latest in a line of swimming pools being lost.
“We lost the Children's Corner pool which used to be here in Southsea, we have lost the Pyramids, we have lost Victoria Swimming Baths, and now we are losing Eastney too,” Mr House said.
As previously reported by The News, a city council report said the former pool, which was closed as a result of the covid pandemic, had ‘major defects’ and dubbed it ‘obsolete’, recommending it be demolished as soon as possible on safety grounds. To read a copy of the report click here.
However campaigners were unhappy with the council’s decision-making process, believing some councillors had back-tracked on earlier statements about the project, and arguing that redeveloping the ‘historic’ Eastney site was better and more cost effective.
It has put together a 16-page ‘dossier’ which it says is filled with complaints and contradictory information from the council, and it is now in the process of submitting formal complaints following the council’s complaints procedure demanding answers.
“We need to hold the council to account over this,” Mr House said.
As previously reported by The News, Historic England had concluded that Eastney Swimming Pool does not have any special architectural and historic interest in a national context that would be required for it to be listed. This comes despite the pool being famously used by the Cockleshell Heroes for training ahead of Operation Frankton - commando raid on ships during the second world war - and is also where underwater hockey was created.
A ‘public engagement’ exercise was held earlier this year to gather views as to what the public would like to see the site used for in the future council’s plans, with the site earmarked for the watersports site.
Meanwhile, work on the new Bransbury Park Leisure Centre, which include a four-lane 25m pool, a learner pool, a relocated GP surgery for existing Devonshire Avenue patients, a fitness suite, spin and multi-purpose studios and a relocated playground is expected to begin next year.
A spokesperson for Portsmouth City Council: "We understand some residents care deeply about Eastney pool, but we firmly reject the allegations made. The decision to demolish the building, closed permanently since 2020, followed all proper procedures. Reports on its poor condition are public, and the decision was made at an open meeting where objections were heard.
"Historic England declined to list the building twice, and the £8 million renovation cost for an inaccessible, unsuitable facility would not be a good use of public funds. This decision does not diminish Portsmouth’s respect for the Cockleshell Heroes, whose legacy is honoured through memorials, plaques, and the recently named ‘Cockleshell Island’ in Langstone Harbour."
Eastney will now follow in the footsteps of other lost swimming pools in the city over the years. This includes Victoria Swimming Baths which was demolished in 2010 as was earmarked for use by the University though this has not yet come into fruition, and the Pyramids in Southsea which has now been repurposed as a play centre.