Source: City of Portsmouth
Portsmouth has a potential opportunity to create a new watersports centre in the south-east of the city, on the site of the closed Eastney Swimming Pool. This ambition was set out in the Council’s Seafront Masterplan in 2013 and was also included in the updated plan in 2021.
This area of the seafront has become a hotspot for kiteboarding and kitesurfing over the past decade, leading to the city hosting the Formula Kite European Championships in 2023.
Creating a watersports centre will establish a hub for these sports, alongside others such as open water rowing, kayaking, and stand-up paddleboarding. Participants in these sports could have facilities to change, leave their valuables, and shower afterwards.
It could also open an area of the seafront that has been previously inaccessible, allowing access to the listed World War II pillbox currently hidden on the site. The listed World War II anti-tank defences could also be sensitively incorporated into the design.
The Council will be consulting with the public on what they would like to see as part of the centre. This could include a café, a restaurant, creative studios, or retail space as part of the mix of facilities on offer. The consultation will begin from April this year.
Cllr Steve Pitt, Leader of Portsmouth City Council, said:
“We have a real opportunity here to potentially create a watersports facility that the community can be proud of. With investment in a new leisure centre at Bransbury Park, renovation work at Mountbatten Centre, and the regeneration of Hilsea Lido, we are demonstrating that we are serious about sport in the city. I’m looking forward to hearing what facilities for watersports the public want to see in the future.”
Eastney Swimming Pool, which is currently on the site, has been closed permanently since 2020. The poor condition of the building means that it presents a significant danger to staff and the public. Multiple surveys have shown the 120-year-old building is in very poor condition, with extensive structural issues with the walls and roof. The pool structure is cracked and is now filling up with groundwater.
To renovate the building to make it safe to use for another purpose would be extremely expensive, not appropriate for a watersports centre, and a poor use of public money. Historic England has also declined to list the building on two occasions, as it does not have any special architectural and historic interest required for it to be listed.
Following the decision made today, the Council will apply for planning permission to demolish this building. Brand new swimming facilities, including a learner pool, will be available in nearby Bransbury Park when the new leisure centre and GP surgery are completed in 2027.
Feature image credit: Vernon Nash
Frequently asked questions:
Why can’t you just re-open the pool?
Eastney Swimming Pool has closed permanently. As a standalone pool it needed considerable subsidy to keep it open, and the building is at the end of its life. It would cost many millions to re-open the existing building.
Even if we did, it would not be able to accommodate a learner pool, modern changing facilities and a gym in the existing building. The gym is essential to the centre operating without a significant annual subsidy. The new facility at Bransbury Park, less than a mile away. should operate without significant subsidy and is the most cost-effective way to provide a new swimming pool for the local community.
I’ve seen claims that a new leisure centre at Eastney will be half the cost of one at Bransbury Park. Is this true?
No, and we do not know where this estimate has come from. To build the same building at Eastney would cost the same amount – if not more to account for flood protection.
We do know that refurbishing Eastney Swimming Pool “as-is” would cost up to £8 million. However, even after this investment, the pool would:
- Remain unsuitable for early stages swimming lessons.
- Have significant accessibility issues.
- Be inconvenient for residents, too far from local schools, and poorly served by public transport.
- Still be an aging building with high ongoing maintenance costs and requiring substantial subsidies.
This £8m estimate does not include additional facilities suggested in “alternative proposals” that have been floated online. These added a learner pool, new changing rooms, a GP surgery, an open-air pool and water sports facilities. Any project to provide these additional facilities on site would have to deal with the variable ground levels there, while integrating new buildings with old. It would have to address the poor accessibility of the existing building, its poor energy rating, the fact that the pool tank leaks, and that the building needs a new roof.
It, like Bransbury Park, is also in a flood zone, but the existing building is set considerably lower in the ground. The most cost-effective way of dealing with these issues would be to demolish the existing building and build a whole new facility at a higher ground level. This would cost at least as much as building it at Bransbury Park, and probably more. It would also not fit on the footprint of the site.
This demonstrates that the alternative proposals are uncosted, unfeasible, and unrealistic.
While a new building at Bransbury Park does require significant upfront capital investment, it offers better value for residents in the long term by offering lower ongoing costs for the Council, reduced reliance on subsidies as a combined pool and fitness centre, and greater energy efficiency, with a substantial portion of its power generated by solar panels on the roof.