onionbagblog
My Leisure, Other People’s Pleasure
And so what’'s the 'new' Brixton Rec like then?
Like a bloody building site, to be honest.
Told you so, neh neh neh neh neh and ya boo sucks and wave my willy in the air at the Lambeth Council Knobbers.
It's all a load of bollocks, and bollocks to them all.
Phew – I think I need a work out now just to release all of that negative energy. Best stay clear of Brixton Rec.
Slightly longer than the three months as promised by the Lambeth knobbers and the Rec re-opened after an 'extensive period of refurbishment' a few weeks ago. You may remember how Leisure Connection, the previous cash from chaos 'leisure provider' on behalf of Lambeth, finally got bored of Brixton and buggered off.
Two other unnamed leisure providers got cold feet when they saw how the Lambeth Knobbers had allowed the Rec to be run down in such a state of disrepair. In stepped Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) at the last minute, probably with a lastminute.com contract price as well.
Any port in a storm, etc.
But GLL are no cowboys. This is a role they reserved for the builders at the Rec. Refusing to re-open until an 'extensive period of refurbishment' had been carried out, Brixton was left leisure-less for three months.
'We WILL open on 1st July!' banged on Councillor Lib Peck, Lambeth's Cabinet Member for Environment and Culture at a public meeting back in March. But the Rec DIDN'T open on July 1st, limping on instead a further few more weeks before the not so grand hush, whisper, please don’t tell anyone but we are open once again, it’s just that we’re not shouting about it because, well, we’re not really open at all actually.
Confused?
I certainly am, and that was just after trying to understand the good Councillor's poncey title.
And so with there being more chance of finding an open for business sign in Tewksbury than Brixton, I chanced it on Saturday morning for a swim in SW9. Turns out I should have headed for Tewksbury for a swim instead.
Yep, the Rec was 'open,' but open in the definition that they took my money and left me more or less high and dry. That's assuming I could have found a working shower to get wet under in the first place.
First things first and what of the promised improvements to the reception area, making your arrival at the Rec a more friendly and welcoming experience? The first thing you see as you walk up the red brick stairs is the EXIT sign. Not very friendly, not very welcoming. The design is all wrong. You have to walk past the exit to get to the entrance. I think it's called a reverse ferret, but it certainly threw me early on Saturday morning.
Once I was finally in the inner sanctum, I had to queue. And queue again. Queuing is actually a leisure activity at the Rec and Brixton has produced some of the best queuers in South London over the years. But now you need to queue to gain entry to the proper queue. Entering Glasto on a ticket produced on the old work photocopier would have been easier.
Finally in and I fancied a quick drink before my swim. But the friendly cafe has now been replaced by a not so friendly membership recruitment office. At least that was open. But as a Council Tax paying resident of Lambeth (oh yes!) I already am a 'member' of the leisure provision provided by my local authority. Aren’t I?
Not wanting to spend an uncomfortable period of time in an enclosed space with some useless tosser trying to get me to do something I didn’t want to do, I... entered the male changing rooms to get undressed.
But being Brixton, we're still not bothered about who is Arthur and who is Martha. Before the closure and the women were in with the gents, with only a thin plywood board saving our blushes.
But it's all change after the 'extensive period of refurbishment.' The gents are now out of bounds and male members (metaphorical) have a shoe box corner of the ladies to swing it all about in. And no sign of the 'extensive period of refurbishment' with the fragrant smell of 'woman odour' still left behind on the old floor from some three months ago. I rather enjoyed it to be honest.
The size of the shoe box fits exactly half a basketball team. Which should make it a friendly affair when my five-a-side football team returns in a few weeks.
My early morning work out was ruined by the continual sound of drilling from all corners of the building. It was like taking a swim in a hotel booked up by a dentist's convention. At least I had a swimming lane to myself. This was more to do with apathy over the 'Fun Open Day' (ha!) than the luxury of a large pool.
Most of the five floor building was cordoned off and strictly out of bounds. How exciting! I wonder what could possibly be taking place behind closed doors? A new ice pad being put down? A state of the art cricket coaching facility? An indoor velodrome maybe?
Or possibly just a couple of workmen on weekend overtime putting on the kettle before their morning read of Page 3.
The 'new gym' is the same as the old gym. Minus more than half of the old machines that never worked anyway. And so you have half a dozen treadmills and one of those strange contraptions that makes your knuckles the size of footballs.
And whatever happened to the promised plasma screens that the good folk of Brixton were so looking forward to paying for the privilege of having installed?
An off the record chat with a Rec member of staff confirmed the reasons for the early opening of the Rec.
'Lambeth made promises to the public that GLL couldn't meet. The Council boasted that 'we WILL re-open in three months!' It's going to take at least six months more to get this mess sorted out. Lambeth put pressure on GLL to open, when the building is clearly not finished.'
The refurbishment of Brixton Rec has been one big bloody bodge job. But we all knew that three months ago, all that is except the Lambeth Council knobbers. More thought, more planning and definitely more consultation was needed with the users.
You don't re-decorate your house in one weekend, you spend some time and concentrate room by room. But with a private 'preferred leisure partner' waiting in the wings to make some money, the refurbishment of the Rec had to be rushed through.
Worth the wait?
Ask me again in six months. I better start queuing now.
technorati: brixton rec
| Wednesday 1 August, 2007 |
And so what’'s the 'new' Brixton Rec like then?
Like a bloody building site, to be honest.
Told you so, neh neh neh neh neh and ya boo sucks and wave my willy in the air at the Lambeth Council Knobbers.
It's all a load of bollocks, and bollocks to them all.
 Any port in a storm |
Slightly longer than the three months as promised by the Lambeth knobbers and the Rec re-opened after an 'extensive period of refurbishment' a few weeks ago. You may remember how Leisure Connection, the previous cash from chaos 'leisure provider' on behalf of Lambeth, finally got bored of Brixton and buggered off.
Two other unnamed leisure providers got cold feet when they saw how the Lambeth Knobbers had allowed the Rec to be run down in such a state of disrepair. In stepped Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) at the last minute, probably with a lastminute.com contract price as well.
Any port in a storm, etc.
But GLL are no cowboys. This is a role they reserved for the builders at the Rec. Refusing to re-open until an 'extensive period of refurbishment' had been carried out, Brixton was left leisure-less for three months.
'We WILL open on 1st July!' banged on Councillor Lib Peck, Lambeth's Cabinet Member for Environment and Culture at a public meeting back in March. But the Rec DIDN'T open on July 1st, limping on instead a further few more weeks before the not so grand hush, whisper, please don’t tell anyone but we are open once again, it’s just that we’re not shouting about it because, well, we’re not really open at all actually.
Confused?
I certainly am, and that was just after trying to understand the good Councillor's poncey title.
And so with there being more chance of finding an open for business sign in Tewksbury than Brixton, I chanced it on Saturday morning for a swim in SW9. Turns out I should have headed for Tewksbury for a swim instead.
Yep, the Rec was 'open,' but open in the definition that they took my money and left me more or less high and dry. That's assuming I could have found a working shower to get wet under in the first place.
First things first and what of the promised improvements to the reception area, making your arrival at the Rec a more friendly and welcoming experience? The first thing you see as you walk up the red brick stairs is the EXIT sign. Not very friendly, not very welcoming. The design is all wrong. You have to walk past the exit to get to the entrance. I think it's called a reverse ferret, but it certainly threw me early on Saturday morning.
Once I was finally in the inner sanctum, I had to queue. And queue again. Queuing is actually a leisure activity at the Rec and Brixton has produced some of the best queuers in South London over the years. But now you need to queue to gain entry to the proper queue. Entering Glasto on a ticket produced on the old work photocopier would have been easier.
Finally in and I fancied a quick drink before my swim. But the friendly cafe has now been replaced by a not so friendly membership recruitment office. At least that was open. But as a Council Tax paying resident of Lambeth (oh yes!) I already am a 'member' of the leisure provision provided by my local authority. Aren’t I?
Not wanting to spend an uncomfortable period of time in an enclosed space with some useless tosser trying to get me to do something I didn’t want to do, I... entered the male changing rooms to get undressed.
But being Brixton, we're still not bothered about who is Arthur and who is Martha. Before the closure and the women were in with the gents, with only a thin plywood board saving our blushes.
But it's all change after the 'extensive period of refurbishment.' The gents are now out of bounds and male members (metaphorical) have a shoe box corner of the ladies to swing it all about in. And no sign of the 'extensive period of refurbishment' with the fragrant smell of 'woman odour' still left behind on the old floor from some three months ago. I rather enjoyed it to be honest.
The size of the shoe box fits exactly half a basketball team. Which should make it a friendly affair when my five-a-side football team returns in a few weeks.
My early morning work out was ruined by the continual sound of drilling from all corners of the building. It was like taking a swim in a hotel booked up by a dentist's convention. At least I had a swimming lane to myself. This was more to do with apathy over the 'Fun Open Day' (ha!) than the luxury of a large pool.
Most of the five floor building was cordoned off and strictly out of bounds. How exciting! I wonder what could possibly be taking place behind closed doors? A new ice pad being put down? A state of the art cricket coaching facility? An indoor velodrome maybe?
Or possibly just a couple of workmen on weekend overtime putting on the kettle before their morning read of Page 3.
The 'new gym' is the same as the old gym. Minus more than half of the old machines that never worked anyway. And so you have half a dozen treadmills and one of those strange contraptions that makes your knuckles the size of footballs.
And whatever happened to the promised plasma screens that the good folk of Brixton were so looking forward to paying for the privilege of having installed?
An off the record chat with a Rec member of staff confirmed the reasons for the early opening of the Rec.
'Lambeth made promises to the public that GLL couldn't meet. The Council boasted that 'we WILL re-open in three months!' It's going to take at least six months more to get this mess sorted out. Lambeth put pressure on GLL to open, when the building is clearly not finished.'
The refurbishment of Brixton Rec has been one big bloody bodge job. But we all knew that three months ago, all that is except the Lambeth Council knobbers. More thought, more planning and definitely more consultation was needed with the users.
You don't re-decorate your house in one weekend, you spend some time and concentrate room by room. But with a private 'preferred leisure partner' waiting in the wings to make some money, the refurbishment of the Rec had to be rushed through.
Worth the wait?
Ask me again in six months. I better start queuing now.
technorati: brixton rec
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