The centre is now fully reopen, following the SWFLC improvement works. Thank you for your patience.
Improvement works and closures at SWFLC
As part of our commitment to providing high-quality leisure facilities, we’re pleased to announce the completion of improvements to our pool at South Woodham Ferrers Leisure Centre.
This included redecorating our poolside, giving it a much-needed refresh, tiling repairs and replacement of our pool boiler, which is now 20 years old.
Our swimming pool must be heated continuously, which makes it the biggest consumer of energy in the centre. We secured funding to help pay for a newer, more efficient boiler and more modern pumps and fans, which will all contribute to lower energy consumption. Replacing the boiler will complement the installation of solar panels and will make the centre more efficient, ensuring that we’re contributing to a net zero carbon future.
Key dates and how this affected our members
Work on the pool area started on Monday 4 November 2024 for seven weeks, and the centre reopened fully on Saturday 21 December 2024.
For the work to take place, we needed to close the pool and changing rooms. This meant there was be no public swimming or swimming lessons during the work.
Due to the boiler replacement, there was also no hot water available so there were no shower or changing facilities available. However, our gym, studio and sports hall remained open and operating as usual.
Sunday 3 November 2024, 9pm
SWFLC pool, showers and all changing rooms closed. Public swimming and swimming lessons are not available. Members could still use our gym, classes, sports hall and MUGA, or use the facilities at both Riverside and CSAC.
Saturday 21 December 2024
Pool, changing rooms and showers reopened.
Wednesday 1 January 2025
Direct Debit payments resume.
Saturday 4 January 2025
Swimming lessons resume.
During the works, all monthly members will have access to Riverside facilities including pool and gym, as well as Chelmsford Sport and Athletics Centre. Alternatively, you have the option to freeze your membership for free during the closure.
Action required
- If you’re happy to continue your membership as normal, no action is required. You can book your gym sessions and classes as normal at SWFLC. From 4 November, you can also use the gym and pool at Riverside (excludes classes) and the gym at CSAC.
- If you want to freeze your membership during the closure, you’ll need to tell us in writing. You can complete a membership change form, or email swflc@chelmsford.gov.uk by Thursday 17 October. You can also find out more about freezing your membership.
We will automatically freeze all Forever Active Swim memberships.
If you would like to use the Riverside pool during the closure, you can email riverside@chelmsford.gov.uk to request access. We will then collect your membership payment as normal.
All swimming lessons will be frozen for the duration of the works. Unfortunately, there isn’t capacity to move lessons across to Riverside, so we will not take any Direct Debit payments until 1 January.
Action required
- No action is required by you. We will automatically pause or adjust your Direct Debit for you, so there is no need to cancel it. We will contact you separately about this.
- Please don’t cancel your lesson. We will hold your place for you, and your lessons will stay on the same day and time when they restart in the new year. We’ll be in touch about lessons restarting closer to completion of the work.
The current boilers at SWF Leisure Centre were installed when the site was opened and are now twenty years old.
We have secured funding to help pay for a newer, more efficient gas boilers and more modern pumps and fans which will all contribute to a lower energy consuming site. The centre has already installed solar PV panels to generate electricity and changed the lights to LEDs. These, alongside the modern pumps and improved boilers, will help the site to continue to operate even more efficiently.
We did consider several renewable technologies to complement the existing solar panels but none of the technologies were viable or cost effective. We remain hopeful that the situation may change in time, and until then, our focus on energy efficiency provides a sensible contribution to our net zero carbon future.