Vale Farm - A Very Short History

Since 1996 I have swum regularly at Vale Farm Leisure Centre. In May 1999 Brent Council gave the contract to manage Vale Farm to Relaxion, which soon merged with Circa  to form Leisure Connection.  I have no complaints about many of the other contracted out services in Brent or elsewhere. The issue for me has been  dismal standards of service and therefore poor value for money for ratepayers and users of Vale Farm. 

I don't recall complaining about Vale Farm before 1999. It was never perfect but only reasonable, overall standards have been sought. A few of the complaints in themselves are small matters but they have become issues because of frequency and the overall pattern of failure to make improvements and hold the gains.

Part of LC's contract was to refurbish the wetside changing rooms. This seemed to take a very long time with swimmers spending months walking chilled from and to very dilapidated, dry-side changing rooms. I remember complaining about the hazard of shards of tile on the floor of the shower in the temporary changing area. That might have been my first complaint.

When the new wetside changing rooms opened in 2000 customers were disappointed. Hooks and benches took months to arrive. The showers were at times dangerously hot and continued for years also to be frequently cold. The shower pipes were exposed, inviting vandals to do their worst. Similarly, the ceiling had been lowered making  it easy to displace and damage the tiles. The sink fittings were woodchip covered in melamine and a poor choice for a wet area with so many users. The heating is inadequate and the floor does not drain well, making the room even chillier in winter. And the new electronic lockers were so unreliable that customers in swimsuits had to trail back to reception for a new key, sometimes three times in a row.  After several months of trying to get the electronic lockers to work  traditional ones were put in. 

Certainly by 2000 I  was complaining often, mistakenly thinking that if I filled out enough Customer Comment Cards something would happen. Much later I learned that many of these cards were found not to have been attended to at all. In May 2001 I wrote for the first time to Brent Council complaining about the poor design, shortage of staff leading to repeated failure to open, " lockers ....often dirty, sometimes filthy with mud ...Floors and walls also often appear grimy " and asking about safety. I received a reply from the Council saying the matters would be looked into and from the manager at Vale Farm saying there would be a "full investigation". But nothing changed for long.

Thus began a torrent of correspondence which continues to this day about much the same issues - failure to open on time, poor or no cleaning, safety concerns, and unnecessary discomfort. The problems continue despite three meetings with early morning swimmers and three complaints that have worked their way, eventually, to Brent's Chief Executive. 

In his latest reply the CE suggests that Brent, after some problems, are now properly managing LC's contract. I can't see the improvement to warrant such a claim and I have written to the CE telling him as much and asking why he did not answer the question about safety hazards at Vale Farm. Must it take a tragedy before Brent grasps the nettle and sorts out Vale Farm once and for all?

I have written less to LC and the Council of late but only because Vale Farm reception now has a Customer Feedback Diary and I have been logging issues in this. With regard to cleaning. the only significant improvement that I am aware of is that swimmers are now required to shower before entering the pool. LC and the Council had been aware of this failing for years but the culture change only happened after the most recent meeting with early morning swimmers. 

I am saddened by what I can only regard as the continuing incompetence of Brent Council and the meanness of LC in not sorting out issues that do not need to be intractable. It seems to me the company is concerned less with "raising the standard", its motto, and more with raising income and lowering overheads for rather short term gains. 

Paul Burns 14.9.04