Vintage Kingston June 24, 1988: Surbiton Lagoon shut down

From the Comet, June 24, 1988

Kingston Council decided to close Surbiton’s only public swimming pool.

The decision to shut down Surbiton Lagoon came after the council looked at figures Councillor Peter Gray produced.

The figures showed a £483,188 loss over the previous seven years and a £70,000 loss in 1988 alone.

Additionally, the parking problem that had persisted around the Surbiton Lagoon was presented to the council.

Several complaints from residents about the lack of parking during hot summer days were submitted to the council.

The borough already had two other swimming pools – Kingfisher Pool in Kingston and the Malden Centre in New Malden.

Both pools were “making losses”, but they were spared and allowed to stay open.

The Surbiton Lagoon was the only pool in the borough that was outdoors and many said it brought in more residents than the other two pools.

Some questioned why Councillor Peter Gray was so adamant about shutting down the Surbiton Lagoon.

The Surrey Comet had written “The contention that the Kingfisher pool – with all its expensively built-in impediments to actual swimming – is a suitable replacement for the Lagoon is also anything but watertight.”

Jeremy French from the Surrey Comet believed that three Berrylands councillors persuaded Peter Gray to take the stance that he did.

He said: “They did not like to see happy, sometimes nosy, youngsters walking through Berrylands with wet swimming togs. That’s what it’s really about.”

His opinions were shared by many of Surbiton’s residents, especially those with young children, who enjoyed having the recreational space so close to the homes.

The pool provided entertainment to those children who were not privileged enough to attend private schools with swimming facilities.

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