Two weeks on from requesting a comprehensive report on ongoing plumbing issues at South Lake Leisure Centre in Craigavon, Alderman Margaret Tinsley is still anxious to be fully briefed on the matter.
A particularly serious incident, she recently pointed out, involved sewage flooding the reception area of the flagship ABC facility.
The DUP representative for Craigavon DEA mentioned the matter at Monday night’s (February 24) ABC monthly meeting – having previously requested a comprehensive overview of plumbing issues, at a Community & Wellbeing Committee meeting on February 10.
Raising the issue at the February 10 committee meeting, Alderman Tinsley stated: “I just wanted a bit of an update on the email we received last week with regards to the squash courts, and the plumbing problem that we had had at South Lake Leisure Centre.
“Several months ago, we had a problem with the sewage coming into the reception area, and really what my concern is, have we had an audit on the plumbing to make sure that we’re not going to have yet another issue?
“Have we been in contact with the contractor? Are we under guarantee? Are we able to claim? Is that work being done at our expense, or is that something that the contractor is covering under the guarantee?
“I suppose I’m really just concerned about the plumbing of the whole leisure centre going forward. It’s unfair for the staff and the users of the leisure centre to be coming up against all of these different issues.
“Just on a final point, there’s always a flushing problem in the toilets, and I just wonder, can that be looked at as part of the audit on the plumbing issue? Is that part of the plumbing problem that we’re having in the leisure centre?
“It’s a new leisure centre, we shouldn’t be having these issues. And that’s nothing to do with our staff running the leisure centre, it’s to do with how the plumbing has been set up in the first place.”
Committee chair, Councillor Keith Haughian (Sinn Féin, Lurgan DEA) felt that the matter should have been raised under AOB (Any Other Business), however he asked ABC head of Health & Recreation, Darryn Causby, to quickly respond.
Mr Causby stated: “There’s some details that you have requested that we’ll look at properly, so you get a fuller response, but we are working with colleagues in Estates, with Maintenance, just to kind of pick up on all of these issues, and we are continuing to engage with the original contractor on a number of fronts.
“So that is ongoing, but I will get more specifics in relation to that.
“But can I just put on record my thanks to the staff who did deal with that issue. It was picked up later than it would have been, had we not been closed for the storm on that day.
“I guess the staff tried their very best to do as much as they could for that building, and particularly to try and save the floor.
“It was in vain in some respects because the water had been coming for too long.”
At Monday night’s (February 24) ABC monthly meeting, the Craigavon representative was anxious to remind council officers that she still hadn’t been properly briefed on the plumbing situation.
She stated: “It’s with regards to the plumbing [issues] going on at SLLC (South Lake Leisure Centre).
“It was advised on the evening that officers would be working with Estates and Maintenance to pick up on the issues, that they would be engaging with the original contractor, and that a wholesome response would be brought back to members.
“Will that be brought back to this committee, or to the Community & Wellbeing Committee at the next meeting?”
Director of Development, Community & Wellbeing, Paul Tamati replied: “We do anticipate to try and bring that back to the March committee if possible.
“We’ll be working closely with our Capital and Estates team just to gather all the information up, but we’re trying to hit that deadline of the March Community & Wellbeing meeting.”
