Arcadia Library & Leisure Centre

I attend a swimming group on Thursday evenings here, but I have now been chased by a debt recovery agency for a parking ticket issued in January 2025, because I simply forgot to put my registration number into a pad, a new system introduced at some point. I emailed Arcadia on 18 December after receiving the letter, and have tried to call via their contact centre multiple times. The call repeatedly goes to voicemail without ringing, and no one has responded to my email, despite an auto-reply saying they try respond in 72 hours. Replies on google to other complaints recommends the email address they don't respond to anyway! The facilities are good here, but don't expect any level of professionalism or good customer service, and the predatory parking issue is infuriating given you don't pay for parking anyway and I legitimately make use of the centre! I'm now trying to appeal and Arcadia are being entirely unhelpful, likely costing me £170!

I attend a swimming group on Thursday evenings here, but I have now been chased by a debt recovery agency for a parking ticket issued in January 2025, because I simply forgot to put my registration number into a pad, a new system introduced at some point. I emailed Arcadia on 18 December after receiving the letter, and have tried to call via their contact centre multiple times. The call repeatedly goes to voicemail without ringing, and no one has responded to my email, despite an auto-reply saying they try respond in 72 hours. Replies on google to other complaints recommends the email address they don't respond to anyway! The facilities are good here, but don't expect any level of professionalism or good customer service, and the predatory parking issue is infuriating given you don't pay for parking anyway and I legitimately make use of the centre! I'm now trying to appeal and Arcadia are being entirely unhelpful, likely costing me £170!

Decent gym and pool that get the job done. It’s a community library and leisure centre, which is clearly an asset to the area and understandably isn’t going to have the equipment and facilities that a more expensive private gym would offer. I will say that there are a couple of areas that could be improved. Obviously over the summer holidays the pool is busier, but it would be nice to have more weekday lane swimming sessions outside of 9-5. Swim for fitness sessions currently start at 8pm, which is a bit of a pain if you’d like to go after work but without it being too late. I’d also like to see more nudges about gym etiquette and making the gym a more inviting space, especially for women who don’t have a need to attend women’s only sessions. The strength training sections especially are often dominated by men in a way that can feel somewhat intimidating to insert oneself into. For instance, large groups taking over equipment without necessarily using it, people watching videos without headphones, and weights and equipment being left scattered across walkways or across mats and benches. The gym can absolutely be a social space, but there just isn’t the space for a group of several blokes to hog equipment while socialising without it feeling unwelcoming - especially as the weights section is very cramped, so any ways of making this area feel more inviting and encouraging good etiquette on using space would be much appreciated