Fury as Brighton Council plan for gender-neutral changing village at new pool being built by firm founded by Olympic swimmers

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A new £5.5million pool in Brighton designed by a firm founded by Olympic swimming stars have provoked fury over plans suggesting a gender-neutral changing village.
Campaigners say women and children could be put at risk as they raised questions about the mooted new facilities at Withdean Sports Complex.
Venue owner Brighton and Hove City Council has handed the contract for the pool's design to ReCreation, a company set up by four-time Olympic medallist Dame Rebecca Adlington and fellow Olympic swimmers Steve Parry and Adrian Turner.
Councillors have hailed 'plans for this much needed new swimming pool' to be built at the Withdean sports base, which has an athletics stadium that was formerly home to Brighton and Hove Albion FC between 1999 and 2011.
But critics have drawn attention to how the newly published plans, put out to public consultation, promise 'Gender neutral changing village and toilets'.
The local authority has since said there has been a 'misunderstanding' about the published plans, while suggesting they had been wrongly phrased.
Complaints are now pouring in to the council's online questionnaire seeking reaction, with gender-critical campaigners raising concerns about single-sex only facilities potentially allowing predatory men access to women and children.
Planning documents shared as part of an ongoing public consultation plan show designs for the new pool's footprint, accompanied by a page listing 'Key considerations' and headed 'Accessible for everyone'.
The document says the proposals are for 'a new facility designed for inclusion and wellbeing' that would 'ensure access for all users'.
The design features are listed as including 'ramped and stair access to suit all levels of mobility', a 'wheelchair-accessible changing cubicle' and 'designated wheelchair spaces in the spectator area'.
Yet critics have highlighted one of the other bullet points which states: 'Gender-neutral changing village and toilets designed with inclusivity in mind.'
Similar concerns have been raised over gender-neutral changing facilities at other leisure centres nationwide, with the group Women's Rights Network calling for curbs.
Brighton and Hove City Council has shared a possible floor plan for the proposed new pool - saying cubicles would include 'a mix of single, double, family and accessible'.
Human rights charity Sex Matters have said the floor plan did not appear to indicate provision for single-sex facilities.
The organisation's director of advocacy Helen Joyce said: 'It's incomprehensible that any council would choose to build a new community pool with only "gender neutral" - that is, mixed sex - changing facilities.
'Most people, of both sexes, prefer single sex facilities for privacy and dignity, and for women they are important for safety too.
'There is increasing evidence that mixed sex changing rooms and toilets are a gift to predatory men who seek to harass, abuse and sexually assault women and girls.'
She told of increasing reports of phone-related incidents in 'gender-neutral' changing rooms and toilets as well as complaints that men have been hiding cameras in such facilities to record women in a state of undress.
Ms Joyce added: 'If Withdean Sports Complex really wants to be "inclusive", it shouldn't design its facilities in a way that will put off women and girls, especially those who have suffered abuse or are from religions and cultures where sharing changing rooms with men is unacceptable.'
Faye McGinty, of Women's Rights Network which has been campaigning against such 'gender-neutral changing villages', called for authorities to show more concern.
She said: 'We know that the changing village design for swimming pools is a magnet for predatory males.
'All over the country, women and girls are constantly put at risk of voyeurism and other forms of sexual abuse in these mixed sex changing rooms in the name of 'inclusivity'.
'Councils, architects and Sport England need to look at the overwhelming evidence of harm and review any new and ongoing projects like the Withdean Sports Complex, considering the safety of women and girls through a robust risk assessment and consultation with women's groups.'
Gender-critical activist Kellie-Jay Keen warned that such gender -neutral changing villages would put women and children in danger if not safely signed.
She said the quality of such facilities did vary - as she praised those at her nearest leisure centre in Wiltshire for having entirely enclosed cubicles, with walls running from floor to ceiling.
But she said others made people more vulnerable to indecent exposure, voyeurism and sexual assaults.
She told MailOnline: 'These gender-neutral changing villages do seem to be on the rise. I live in Wiltshire and we've got one and I was encouraged to see the cubicles do seem to be fully enclosed.
'If they are fully enclosed, right to the top from the floor and are fully impenetrable, I don't see there's anything wrong with them.
'But if, say, a mobile phone can come through any gaps or pierce a hole, then it's simply not good enough.
'Anything less than being fully enclosed puts women and children at risk.'
Brighton and Hove City Council sources have suggested in response to the backlash that there had been a 'misunderstanding' following phrasing in the published plans and insisted users would be kept separate in the proposed 'village'.
They said lockable toilets and changing rooms would be similar to those seen in leisure centres nationwide.
And they described the phrasing in the published documents as 'something, we'll have to have a chat, the way it's been worded'.
Councillor Alan Robins, cabinet member for sports, recreation and libraries, today said: 'There has been a misunderstanding over the naming of the facilities on the designs.
'But to be clear, they are for the industry standard, individual, lockable cubicles used at leisure facilities up and down the country.
'We are delighted to be consulting on a new state of the art swimming pool for residents of Brighton and Hove.'
A formal planning application related to the proposed new pool is expected to be submitted to Brighton and Hove City Council later this year.
But initial designs and plans for the five-lane, 25m facility were revealed this month, with councillor Mr Robins describing the unveiling as 'incredibly exciting'.
He said: 'As a coastal city it's vital that all our children and young people have the chance to learn to swim at an affordable price, and that we listen to the views of our residents and do everything we can to provide modern, sustainable and affordable sporting facilities for all.'
The project, given an estimated budget of £5.5million, is being overseen by swimming pool design firm ReCreation, part of the Swim network of UK-wide community pools.
The company says on its website: 'Using innovative technology and designs, we deliver bespoke public leisure buildings for a fraction of the traditional cost.
'Every project we undertake becomes our passion and we offer a complete, dedicated design and delivery team that collaborates with each client on a case-by-case basis to provide an optimum, cost-effective leisure solution.'
Adrian Turner, director of ReCreation, said earlier this year when the Withdean partnership was announced: 'Our guarantee is a swimming pool that the community will love.
'We will be using the latest design and engineering technologies to develop a pool that will be warm, safe and inviting.
'For 11 years in a row, more pools in the UK have closed than opened, so we are thrilled to be reversing that trend with Brighton & Hove City Council.'
The firm has been described as the country's leading provider of above-ground pools, after being founded in 2009 alongside the Pools4Schools initiative.
They opened Britain's first Olympic-length above-ground pool in the London borough of Barking and Dagenham in 2019.
Dame Rebecca and Parry also set up Swim!, an organisation set up 'to help children to swim' - with regular sessions held weekly at pools across the country.
The company describes them as 'passionate about teaching children to swim' and how they were 'achieving this by opening state-of-the-art, family-friendly centres around the UK'.
Dame Rebecca, 36, won two gold medals at London 2012 - the first British swimmer to hold two golds since 1908.
She followed that up with a pair of bronzes at the Summer Games in Rio four years later.