West Reservoir swimmers fight to save communal changing rooms as council revamp gets underway
The West Reservoir Centre as it is now. Photograph: Hackney Council
Campaigners are urging Hackney Council to keep the communal changing rooms at the West Reservoir Centre – amid fears that separate facilities would ruin the “whole atmosphere”.
The Town Hall recently broke ground on a major redevelopment of the open water swimming hub, known affectionately as ‘the West Res’.
The work, expected to be completed by next summer at a cost of close to £3.5 million, includes new entrances and pathways, and landscaping and planting to improve biodiversity.
But it’s the updates to the changing rooms, going from communal to male and female facilities, that have sparked concern among swimmers.
A newly launched petition, so far signed by more than 550 people, accuses the council of ignoring feedback from consultees – something the Town Hall denies.
The petition states: “We insist on having communal changing areas at the West Res. It’s what we need. It’s what brings us together. And we don’t want to be split apart.”
Comedian and actor Rob Delaney, a Res regular, said: “The actual swimming is only a part of what makes the West Res wonderful.
“The other parts are the friendships and the chat before and after your swim, the people looking after each other’s babies and kids and the vibrant community the Res has spawned.
“The communal outdoor and indoor areas for the swimmers is probably the greatest ad hoc community centre I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a world-class example of the adage, ‘If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.'”
What the new centre will look like, with the relocated cafe on the left. Image: Hackney Council
The campaigners fear the centre will be made to feel “more akin to a corporate leisure facility”, with some also upset that a revamped cafe will be relocated away from the main building.
Bridget Flynn is part of Mamma Swim CIC, a community swimming group that helps mums combat loneliness and improve their wellbeing.
She said: “Mamma Swim thrives on shared parenting and peer support. The open, communal setup at West Reservoir lets mums and families swap childcare, swim and connect seamlessly.
“I worry that exclusively gendered changing, along with separating the cafe, will unravel what makes this communal space work so well for our community.”
Architect Barbara McFarlane, a swimmer and member of the Castle Canoe Club, added: “It is disappointing that the current layouts don’t reflect the voices of many who were consulted on the plans.
“With a few tweaks and changes to the changing facilities and the new cafe layout, it could work much better for all.”
The council refutes the claim that it did not take on board feedback from its consultation in 2023, which ran for eight weeks and had 794 responses – the majority of which were from open water swimmers.
It is also understood that the Town Hall will not be making any further amendments to the changing room designs.
Mayor Caroline Woodley (in red) with members of the works team. Photograph: Hackney Council
Mayor of Hackney Caroline Woodley said: “We listened carefully to feedback from local people and West Reservoir Centre users while designing improvements to make the reservoir, green space and facilities more welcoming and accessible.
“During the public consultation, we received strong support for proposals to create new ‘village changing’ facilities with individual cubicles as well as indoor showers and additional toilets.
“Based on feedback from people who wanted to see outdoor and group changing spaces, we updated our plans to introduce separate outdoor group changing spaces, as well as separate indoor group changing facilities.
“The final designs offer a range of options, providing a mix of private, outdoor and group facilities to meet the preferences of different users.”
The council is of the view that these designs balanced the feedback it received with its desire to attract new users who might have been uncomfortable with the existing arrangements.
In response to complaints about the location of the new cafe, the Town Hall said the creation of a publicly accessible green space on the east bank of the reservoir meant it was necessary to prevent unauthorised access to the water sports area.
It added that the cafe was designed to serve both water sports customers and members of the public accessing the new green space.
The 30-acre West Reservoir was constructed in 1833 to purify the New River water and to act as a water reserve for London, with the former filter house that is now home to the centre built in the 1930s.
The petition calling the retention of communal changing rooms can be found at change.org/p/save-the-west-reservoir-communal-changing-areas.
To find out more about the West Reservoir Centre and the council’s redevelopment plans, visit hackney.gov.uk/west-reservoir-park.
The Council consults 794 people about the changes, 550 say they don't like them, yet the Council insists on making them and the Mayor calls this "listening". She needs an ear trumpet.
As always, Hackney Council come along with ‘improvements’ which do nothing but destroy the original fabric of the place. Well done, yet again at crapifying the borough and wasting our money.
The overwhelming feedback from swimmers, users and the conservation committee was do not change the cafe – a great Portuguese family run concern that has been feeding and warming swimmers and west reservoir users for many years – and do not change the position of the cafe or gender the changing facilities. The new cafe won’t be able to provide warm food, there’s no kitchen provision but it means Hackney can make more money from private use of the Reservoir building and the view. As usual Hackney Planning committee do exactly what they want and ignore the consultations – Caroline Woodley and Hackney do not listen to their residents and Hackney Planning are a law unto themselves. A waste of money and resources.