Work to replace a faulty roof at Bootle Leisure Centre has not yet begun amid claims missing drawings have caused delays.
Last year Sefton Council said it was going to spend £200k on replacing the centre’s roof after damage – believed to have been caused by solar panels on its roof – led to the long term closure of a sports hall at the centre three years ago.
A report presented to Sefton’s full council in November last year revealed the borough had struggled to find anyone willing to tackle the problem meaning the entire roof would need to be replaced, with £200k approved to be spent on carrying out the works.
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In February, the ECHO was contacted by users of the centre, frustrated at the seeming lack of progress in resolving the problem – or getting the centre’s sports hall back open.
The council said at the time that it aimed “to be in a position to re-open the leisure centre hall just as soon as we can do so in a way that guarantees the safety of centre users and staff.”
Since then, frustrated residents have contacted the council again to find out what is going on with plans to fix the roof.
In emails shared with the ECHO, a locality services officer initially told the resident that works would be commencing in mid- April following a tender process.
An update provided at the end of April said there had been delays to the timescale brought about by a “technical issue” with a plan to “overlay” the existing roof, which would have been a cheaper option than a full replacement.
This technical issue, according to the email was because it could not be verified that the method would be suitable as the “original construction drawings are not available” nor is it known what type of steel has been used on the roof.
According to the email this has caused a “delay of several weeks (with the best of intentions).”
Sefton Council was contacted about the issues detailed in the emails and a spokesperson said: “As is standard practice across all repair and refurbishment projects, Sefton Council will be carrying out a tendering process for work at Bootle Leisure Centre.
“Tender documentation is currently being finalised to identify a contractor to carry out a full roof replacement.
“Following the appointment of a contractor we expect works to begin quickly, and we will be providing further updates as work progresses.
“We are committed to providing a full range of activities that contribute to people’s physical and mental health at all of our leisure centres.
“As well as the leisure centres and activities we provide for all residents across the Borough, our free, Living Well Sefton service also provide people with support on improving their health. This can be through a series of changes or even one change to make people feel better about themselves.
” Living Well Sefton mentors can quickly identify a range of services across the local community that will be able to support residents and often these services may be even closer to home than our leisure centres.”
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