Following Reepham Town Council’s decision to close the showers at Stimpson’s Piece pavilion, Reepham Town Football Club (RTFC) has responded, saying the Council had done nothing to address defects in the building’s entire water system identified more than two years earlier.
The showers at Stimpson’s Piece pavilion have been closed until an effective management plan is in place
At its meeting last week, the Town Council voted to close the facilities, which are principally used by RTFC, saying the club had failed to sign an agreement to take over responsibility for running the changing rooms and showers and undertake a water management programme.
The Council said it was concerned about the possibility of pavilion users contracting serious water-borne diseases, such as Legionnaires.
However, RTFC pointed out that the “report” referred to by the Town Council had been submitted by Mike Graver, a football club committee member with professional knowledge in these matters, following an initial review of the entire water system at Stimpson’s Piece.
This review, Mr Graver explained, was prompted by the football club’s expression of interest and agreement in principle to taking over responsibility for the ongoing water system testing and day-to-day operation of the showers.
At a meeting with the Town Council on 9 October, the club had been given a copy of a legionella risk assessment carried out on behalf of the Council, as the trustee of Stimpson’s Piece, in October 2013.
“Although seriously flawed, the risk assessment did contain a large amount of correct information, which needed to be acted upon for the trustees to fulfil their obligations as duty holder for the water system,” Mr Graver commented.
RTFC said there were a number unsatisfactory statements in the draft agreement, which would leave the football club exposed to financial risk, such as the required capital expenditure for upgrading the showers.
The club maintained that, while it was not in a position to sign the agreement, it did engage with the Town Council and responded proactively “as we recognised potential mutual benefits in terms of future running cost savings”.
The club further understood that, following a meeting with Town Council chairman Les Paterson on 2 December, when the issues with the water system were discussed, a verbal agreement made at that time to move forward with a provisional action plan to keep the showers open meant the decision on the showers would be deferred until the trustees’ meeting in January.
Mr Graver continued: “Essentially, the Town Council gave the football club just two months to agree to taking over a facility with legacy non-compliance issues (and the associated financial cost), of which the Town Council either were or should have been aware, whereas the Town Council had taken no action whatsoever to address identified defects within the previous two years.”
Mr Graver said it was he who advised the trustees that weekly testing and flushing of the water system could not be carried out safely until the plumbing non-compliance issues were corrected.
“The thanks the football club received from the Town Council for being proactive in identifying and reporting defects and recommending means of rectifying them was the decision on 9 December to close down the showers, which in effect ceases to allow the football club to operate, at least in the immediate time,” he said.
Mr Graver further indicated that his review had identified a number of potentially serious non-compliances with the water system as a whole: specifically, the hot water supply temperatures not reaching 50°C within one minute of full flow, which “placed all users at risk, including nursery children, as they related to the washrooms basin and kitchen sinks”.
“It was only subsequent to being advised that the hot water temperatures were too cold did the Town Council take action to increase the set point on the calorifiers,” he added. “It is not known for how long prior to my survey that the hot water supplies had been at insufficient temperature.”
Mr Graver said it had become clear that the football club could not manage the water supply to the showers only; it had to be managed as an entire system.
“It was only after we pointed out the practicalities that the Town Council responded with a follow-up request for the football club to undertake the water temperature testing and flushing of the entire system, including those facilities of which we are not the main hirer.”
RTFC said it is currently seeking legal advice in relation to the draft agreement proposed by the trustees.
Meanwhile, Reepham Town Council has clarified its position concerning the use of the showers at Stimpson’s Piece in a posting (17 December) on its website.
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