Triangle Leisure Centre's Q&A With The Burgess Hill Uncovered Readers

It's fair to say that it's not been the smoothest of transitions when Places for People took over the management of the Triangle Leisure Centre at the start of the Summer.

With issues arising and people left disillusioned when Freedom Leisure were in control, we invited our readers to help compile a list of questions to put to the new management before they got their feet firmly under the table.

Encouragingly, Places for People Leisure were very receptive to our approach and have put together a document with responses to all the main points raised.

You can download the document here(.pdf) or read it below:

We have recently been contacted by ‘Burgess Hill Uncovered’ with a request from many local residents/users of The Triangle to help answer some of your questions/comments. We have decided that the quickest and easiest way to answer these questions is with a Q&A.

1. Re-Development Project
As many of our customers will be aware, we recently began a re-development project of various areas around the centre. To find out more information on the project and all the latest updates please click here

A new members swipe-in system for the gym and health suite changing rooms has now been ordered and will be installed within the next couple of weeks.

The work to extend the gym and replace all of the equipment is well under way, but the next stage will involve a short period of moving into a smaller area while the current gym is refurbished.

We are excited to announce that work will also start on our health suite and member changing rooms on 22nd September. The area will see much needed improvements to the showers, ceiling, wall and floor tiling. We will be installing brand new sauna and steam rooms and repairs/servicing will be carried out to our lockers in the changing rooms.

Our main reception and café will also be updated with brand new flooring from the front entrance all the way down to the rear of the café. A restructure of the café layout will offer additional seating for customers during busy periods as well as the installation of new service counters.

2. Swimming Pool Lockers
We are aware that our swimming pool lockers are in need of maintenance and to rectify this issue, a large order of replacement parts has now been placed. As soon as the delivery arrives our technicians will be starting work to service and repair all units.

3. Fast Track Machines
Fast Track Machines have now been installed to allow members to print off class tickets with ease and we will soon be offering the facility for members wishing to use the Fitness Pool to check in and print off wristbands from the same units.

4. Telephones
We are aware that customers have had trouble getting through on our phone system. We apologise for this inconvenience but hope that many of the factors that led to this have now been resolved.

Staff are now trained on how to use our new booking system, fast track machines have been installed and online booking is now available. All of these factors mean that our reception team do not have as many customers requiring assistance, which will alleviate some pressure and enable them to answer the phone more promptly. Should you still be unable to get through on the telephones please visit our website at www.thetriangleleisurecentre.org for centre information or email us at enquiries@thetriangleleisurecentre.org

5. Pricing
Please note that prices for all of our casual activities are exactly the same as they were prior to the transfer to Places for People. Much of our centres pricing is structured to be competitive with the rest of the industry and the core prices are set each year by Mid Sussex District Council. However, these prices do differ between local authorities, which is why prices can vary between centre across the county.

6. Corporate Memberships
As a company and centre, we are proud to offer great membership prices to many local and national companies to include the NHS, Tesco, Sainsburys, American Express, West Sussex County Council and many more. We are regularly adding new companies to our portfolio, so if you would like more information on how to setup your company please contact our Contract Sales Manager at iainjarvie@pfpleisure.org

7. Kids Membership
We are would like to reassure customers that our £10.25 Kids Membership is still available. Customers wishing to take advantage of this membership will receive benefits to include; Swimming, Paint and Play, Bounce and Roll, Playtime sessions, Antics and Off-Peak use of racquet sports. To find out more information on this membership please contact a member of our team on 01444 876000 Option 2 or email enquiries@thetriangleleisurecentre.org

8. Course Enrolment
School aged swimming lessons have now begun and all dry-side courses/pre-school swimming lessons start week commencing Monday 8th September.

If you have not yet been advised of your allocation for September, please contact karenlewis@pfpleisure.org For all new enquiries please complete a course registration card, which can be collected from our main reception.

9. Under 8’s FREE Swimming
Under 8’s FREE swimming is an initiative across all of our Mid Sussex sites (The Triangle, The Dolphin and Kings Centre) offering FREE swimming in all of our Fitness

Pools for children under 8 years of age. This initiative is to try and encourage under 8’s to get fit and healthy, with the aim to influence exercise to be a regular part of their life from early years. To find out more information on swimming in our fitness pool and to view our swimming timetable please click here. Please note that each child must be accompanied by one paying adult to receive free entry to our fitness pool.

10. Cleaning
The management team at The Triangle are aware that cleanliness throughout the site has been an issue and we are determined to turn this around. Since the takeover by Places for People a large investment of time and resources has been put in to ensure that cleaning becomes the highest priority at the centre behind keeping customers safe. New cleaning staff have been, and continue to be, recruited and once fully staffed a new cleaning plan will go live, which will include double cover at weekends, regular deep cleans and overnight cleaners.

We would also like to ask all of our customers to help us keep the centre clean by using general waste, nappy and recycling bins around the centre as much as possible.

11. Staffing
Since the takeover in July, we have been actively recruiting to build our teams up to the required staffing levels. These include new members for our Fitness, Studio Class, Cleaning, Membership and Operational Teams, with the aim to offer a more efficient and professional service to all our customers. This also means that during busy periods, we have sufficient staffing levels to cope with the demand of our customers.

Summary
Places for People and the staff at The Triangle, would like to apologise for the fact that the handover of the contract has not gone as smoothly as we would have hoped. We would like to thank all of our customers that have been so patient and co-operative during this period.

We are extremely excited about what the future holds for The Triangle and all of our sites across Mid Sussex. With dramatic improvements in service and development projects in many areas we hope that our customers will share our enthusiasm.

If you feel that our Q&A has not answered your questions or wish to discuss something in further detail, please do not hesitate to contact us atenquiries@thetriangleleisurecentre.org

Got an opinion on this story? Leave a comment below.....
Are you encouraged with the answers supplied with the Triangle Leisure Centre management team? Are there any other issues that you feel need urgent attention?