South Norwood Leisure Centre is a leisure centre located on Portland Road in

South Norwood South Norwood is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon, Greater London and formerly in the historic county of Surrey. It is located 7.8 miles (12.5 km) south-east of Charing Cross, north of Wood ...

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

, London. It contains a 25m sized

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...

, teaching pool, 32 station gym and two studios. The centre is managed by Better (GLL).

Facilities

Provided facilities consist of a swimming pool, multi-purpose room, car park, gym, crèche, learning pool and Group Exercise Studio. Alongside this a range of enabling accessible services are provided for disabled visitors. Free swimming is provided at given hours for those aged 16 years and under.

Activities

A non-exhaustative list of activities includes The SwimFit groups, swimming (open) and laned sessions, single gender sessions, primetime activities, pool based classes, a swim school, Personal Training, School holiday activities, gym and weights inductions and work out plans.

History

In 2006–8 the centre underwent a refurbishment lasting more than a year and a half.

Period of Controversy

In 2005 the then

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

-controlled Croydon Council announced that it would knock down the centre and rebuild it from scratch, promising that a new building as a state of the art leisure facility. Originally, the Mayor of London,

Ken Livingstone Kenneth Robert Livingstone (born 17 June 1945) is an English politician who served as the Leader of the Greater London Council (GLC) from 1981 until the council was abolished in 1986, and as Mayor of London from the creation of the office i ...

, had given the go-ahead for the development of a £10 million multi-purpose sports and leisure centre on a new site next to Croydon Sports Arena in South Norwood on 3 December 2003 but this plan was shelved in favour of redeveloping the existing site. In early 2006, the Council stated that the new leisure centre would take 18 months to build, and be finished by late 2007. A redevelopment plan was underway when the 2006 local elections led to a change of political control of the Council. The local

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

changed the policy away from rebuilding. After what they called "a long decision", local Conservatives decided, in order to save money, that instead of re-building it they would refurbish the facility at a reduced cost of £4 million. Croydon Council wrote that the refurbishment would give the pool an extra 30 years of life and defended the decision, insisting the £6 million saving can be used for modernising facilities elsewhere. However, this decision angered many local residents in the surrounding area.Your Local Guardian; Contemporaneous message forum on the issues
On 25 July 2006, the Council upheld its controversial decision to refurbish rather than rebuild the Leisure Centre.Pool Plans Are Approved Despite 3 000 Signature Petition, ''The Croydon Guardian''
/ref> Protesters were at the town hall for the meeting and handed over a 3,000 signature petition as part of a two-month campaign to persuade the council to change its mind. Nevertheless, at the end of a debate starting after 10pm the Council agreed the refurbishment plan would go ahead. Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Hollands said: "I understand the disappointment but Croydon can't afford to build a new leisure centre." Cllr Sue Bennett, one of the ward councillors for South Norwood, stated: "To say it was a difficult decision is undoubted and to say it was the right decision is under much debate. However the council can't afford it."

Transport links

There is a bus stop outside serving

Peckham Peckham () is a district in southeast London, within the London Borough of Southwark. It is south-east of Charing Cross. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census the Peckham ward had a population of 14,720. History "Peckham" is a Saxon p ...

New Addington New Addington is a town in South London, England, within the London Borough of Croydon. It is located 5 miles south east of Croydon, south of Addington Village and north of Biggin Hill. History Until the 1930s, the area now known as New Addingt ...

and elsewhere by the 130,

197 Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 '' Ab urbe con ...

and the 312.

Norwood Junction railway station Norwood Junction railway station is a National Rail station in South Norwood in the London Borough of Croydon, south London and is in Travelcard Zone 4. It is down the line from . The station is managed by London Overground and trains are oper ...

is the nearest overground station to the centre. The nearest

Tramlink London Trams, previously Tramlink and Croydon Tramlink, is a light rail tram system serving Croydon and surrounding areas in South London, England. It began operation in 2000, the first tram system in the London region since 1952. It is manage ...

stops are Harrington Road for

Beckenham Beckenham () is a town in Greater London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, in Greater London. Until 1965 it was part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south-east of Charing Cross, situated north of Elmers End and E ...

and Woodside for

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...

and

Elmers End Elmers End is an area of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Bromley, Greater London and formerly part of the historic county of Kent. It is located south of Beckenham, west of Eden Park, north of Monks Orchard and east of An ...

References

External links

London Borough of Croydon Leisure Homepage

London Borough of Croydon Sport Homepage

Website South Croydon Leisure Centre

Croydon Guardian Website
{{coord, 51.3936, -0.0675, type:landmark_region:GB-CRY, display=title Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Croydon Leisure in the London Borough of Croydon Sport in the London Borough of Croydon Sports venues in London Swimming venues in London Tourist attractions in the London Borough of Croydon