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Harrow - Byron Hall 23.10.08 Harrow Times Police: Harrow Leisure Centre still not safe by Tristan
Kirk Reproduced in Full http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/3782409.Police__Harrow_Leisure_Centre_still_not_safe/?action=thanks POLICE believe residents are still in danger of
being victims of crime when using a local leisure centre, despite tough new
rules imposed after a licensing hearing. Sergeant Carl Davis said he was
disappointed with the decision by a panel of Harrow councillors not to suspend
the licence of Byron Hall until serious improvements have been made into the
way it is managed. He said: “If you go to the leisure centre, there
is a fairly good chance of having your car broken into or your purse stolen. I
am disappointed they didn’t suspend the licence until additional measures are
in place.” The venue, run for the past six years by
Yorkshire-based Leisure Connection, was hauled before the licensing panel after
police had to be called to a string of incidents. Between August 2006 and
August 2007, police had to investigate 54 crimes around Harrow Leisure Centre
and Byron Hall, which are in Christchurch Avenue, including burglary, robbery,
bomb hoaxes, fraud and indecent assault. A Navratri and Diwali celebration
decended into chaos last year as Byron Hall staff struggled to cope with the number
of people who wanted to attend, leading to aggressive behaviour and police
having to deal with crowd control. In August this year, cops had to go to the
entertainment venue twice, first when staff had to close early and drunk people
were trying to get back in, and on August 29 when the takings of the bar were
stolen during a break-in. The three-man panel of councillors, which sat at
the hearing on Monday, imposed strict new conditions on Leisure Connection’s
licence, including one security guard on duty for every 100 people, more CCTV
cameras around the site and drinks to be sold in plastic glasses. There are
also various new measure to combat noise coming from Byron Hall, which has been
a problem for local residents. Chris Mitchell, spokesman for Leisure
Connection, said the company was pleased with the outcome of the hearing and
said they had already put in place many of the conditions. He said £5,000 has
been invested into improvements to the leisure centre, including a new CCTV
system and a noise control system, but declined to address the concerns of
local police about the safety of the site. Sergeant Davis said the Leisure Connection staff
who attended the hearing were embarrassed they had to be there and he called on
Harrow Council to rapidly improve the management of Byron Hall and Harrow
Leisure Centre. He said: “Leisure Connection has consistently stalled,
dithered, dawdled and smokescreened to avoid putting in extra security
measures. They are quite happy to take the money of residents of Harrow, but
where has the money been spent?” Councillor Chris Mote, in charge of leisure in
Harrow, vowed to tackle the problem, saying: ”We set high standards for
external contractors who run facilities on our behalf and we will be working
closure with Leisure Connection to see these are met." However, he would not discuss whether Leisure
Connection’s management of the two venues is under threat as the contract comes
up for review in 2010. 20.10.08 Byron Hall Under Review Harrow Times by Tristan Kirk http://www.harrowtimes.co.uk/news/3772581.Byron_Hall_under_review/ Reproduced in Full A major entertainment
venue in Harrow could lose its licence this morning after a string of late
night disturbances and accusations of mismanagement. Police and Harrow
Council have asked for Byron Hall’s licence to be reviewed, having submitted a
catalogue of incident reports suggesting bosses are not doing enough to prevent
crime and disorder. Correspondence about Byron Hall 4.1.04 Viewable at http://www2.harrow.gov.uk/Published/C00000263/M00002894/AI00021518/CliftonJacksonInfoItem.pdf 2nd November 2004 Harrow Leisure Centre Dear Sir, First I would like to thank you very much for providing your venue for our community event that was held on the 29th August 04. This is the biggest event of our annual calendar and it attracts members of all ages. The Harrow leisure Centre staffs were very helpful and cooperative during the preparation and on the day of the event. With their support and help the event was very successful. I want to take this opportunity to ask you to forward our thanks to the staff that were on duty for that particular weekend. 1 However, there were several issues that I felt should be brought to your attention. Over the years our organisation has felt that the toilet facilities have seriously deteriorated. Some of the hand driers and toilets are out of order and have not been maintained. We have highlighted this to you in the past and it seems that nothing has been done. The conditions of the lavatory floor have not improved either. The rooms were unclean before we started using the facilities. Also there were no sanitary bags and disposal facilities in any of the ladies toilets.
3. This year the stage was not constructed adequately, There were an insufficient number of platforms 'to start with, Over the last few years more and more of the platforms have remained broken and unusable. We were very disappointed by the general condition of the hall. It was simply not satisfactory and we feel the general standard has deteriorated over the years. We have verbally raised the above issues on previous occasions but have not seen any change, nor have we received any feedback. We have hired Harrow leisure Centre now for well over ten years and appreciative of the service
you have provided so far. However, we felt that it was time some of the issues were highlighted in
the hope that you will do something to resolve them. I would welcome any feedback from you. Yours sincerely Dear Mrs Bhanderi, Re: Harrow Leisure Thank for your recent letter regarding your recent use of Byron Hall at Harrow Leisure Centre. I can confirm that Leisure Connection the Council's facility operator have agreed to make a substantial investment in the provision of new equipment including tables and chairs for use in the Byron Hall. leisure Connection has placed an order with a supplier and is awaiting delivery. Leisure Connections (sic) are aware of concerns from hirers regarding the cleaning of the Byron
Hall, and the cleaning schedule has been adjusted, and additional resources have been
allocated to support cleaning. We are also looking at revitalising some of broken staging platforms by either repairing or Should you require any further information please feel free to contact me on 02084247623. |
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