They were to be the legacy of the London 2012 Olympics, but instead public pools around the country are facing permanent closure
“A better you starts here,” reads the hopeful signage outside Purley Leisure Centre in south London. The words accompany a shiny image of a female swimmer gliding through a pool.
But the hulking brick building is permanently locked; its pool and gym lie empty. Cobwebs, not visitors, hang around the entrance. Behind the deserted front desk, a wall clock is stuck at 10.35 – the time the pool temperature was last checked, before the centre closed at the start of lockdown in March 2020.
With a broken ventilation system and a £3 million repair bill, the fate of the 40-year-old facility was sealed by Croydon Council last year: despite strong local opposition, the decision was made that it would not reopen. Jason Perry, the new mayor of Croydon, has pledged to turn the decision around, but for now, the future of the pool remains in limbo.
“It’s such a loss to the whole community,” says Smita Kuttan, a member of the Save Purley Pool campaign group and a former receptionist at the centre. “We’ve seen generations come to that pool.”