Restrictions on 50m pool at John Charles Centre are disappointing for the public - Yorkshire Post Letters

Ever since the closure of Leeds International Pool in the city centre the only 50m metre pool the public have had access to in Leeds is the Aquatics Centre at the John Charles Centre at Middleton, south Leeds.

Despite there being no public transport to the site (which is a disgrace on the part of WYPTE) people from other parts of Leeds continued to bus over to Dewsbury Road and then walk the rest of the way to the centre for a lunchtime swim. The pool was open in 50 metre format from 12.00 to 3.00pm but due to classes unrestricted access was from 1.15 to 3.00pm - 1 hour 45 minutes on weekdays.

Following the 2012 Olympics, Alastair Brownlee complained that the public had too much access to the pool in it's 50 metre format (even though it was only 1 hour and 45 mins per day) so the public times were reduced to one hour on two days a week (at lunchtimes), which meant it was not even worth travelling all that way for.

More recently the public have been given no unrestricted access to the 50 metre pool. The only times the public can access the pool at the moment is in the mornings at 7am when access is restricted by various groups from the City of Leeds Club using several lanes.

I have recently learned from an employee at Holt Park Leisure Centre that the early morning swims there - which used to be from 7am to 9am - now end at 8am because the Brownlees et al now want to use that pool for their training.

It seems public swimming pools in Leeds are not accessible to the public and disabled people like myself have no access whatsoever to the Aquatics Centre in 50 metre format and have restricted access elsewhere.

Is it any wonder that obesity is costing the NHS over £6bn a year?