Liverpool Council has apologised after repairs at Peter Lloyd leisure centre in Tuebrook "failed from the start", leaving the community without a pool for six years and costing £2.7m. The centre on Bankfield Road only fully reopened this summer, six years after it first closed.
Delays and costs
Between 2020 and July this year, residents were forced to go elsewhere for swimming while works at the Liverpool Council-run facility massively overran. The dry side of the venue reopened in 2024.
A lessons learned report commissioned by the local authority found that repairs to the site, which dates back to 1987, cost the council £2.7m. Officials said it could have been done cheaper "had the council done things right first time." The site had been expected to fully reopen in 2021, with £1.4m initially assigned for the work.
Management failures
The report, which will go before the council's culture and economy overview and scrutiny committee next week, revealed that no single official took responsibility for the project until February this year, despite the site already being closed for almost six years. This impacted "decision making, escalation routes and the poor communication given to members and to the public."
Andrew Lewis, city council chief executive, said the length of time to deliver repairs represented an "unacceptable situation." He said: "On behalf of the council, I apologise to the local residents, to Lifestyles members and to our councillors."
Mr Lewis said the authority had "failed from the start" to identify the work as a complex project, and that it was characterised by a series of individual repairs and refurbishments, which created drift in the project's delivery. He added there had been failures in communication to Cllr Harry Doyle, lead cabinet member, ward councillors and the public.
Wider lessons
The chief executive said the failures at the leisure centre were "familiar themes" from reports into the council since 2020. The report, which makes 30 recommendations, said lessons for the council to learn were organisational wide and should have been managed better.
The report said: "It was the responsibility of the management of leisure services, with support from other professional services from across the council, to ensure that the reopening was on track; and if not to escalate this situation to ensure it received the support required."
Intervention from Cllr Liam Robinson, leader of Liverpool Council, was required to speed up works to remedy the delays to reopening of the pool. The ECHO understands Cllr Doyle only received a formal apology regarding the delays this summer.
Cllr Doyle responds
In a statement, Cllr Doyle said: "Peter Lloyd is my local leisure centre, and we have worked incredibly hard to keep it in its home, serving the communities of Tuebrook, Old Swan, West Derby and Clubmoor. I share the deep frustration of residents at the time it took to get the centre fully reopened, and I was personally repeatedly disappointed by how the project was managed."
He added: "However, I am delighted that Peter Lloyd is now fully open and thriving once again. Thousands of residents have returned, and it is particularly encouraging to see so many young people taking advantage of our free leisure pass scheme. This centre is an important part of our community, and I want to see it continue to go from strength to strength for generations to come."
