Following a round of inspections and a damning report which identified that fire safety measures at the North Devon Leisure Centre were not at all up to scratch, the council has approved £50,000 to modernise the facility.
The inspections mainly highlighted problems with compartmentation at the Barnstaple leisure centre, which means dividing a building up into sealed compartments with the aim of containing a fire if it breaks out. The money approved by North Devon Council will be used to reinstate ‘building compartmentation’ where it has been breached.,
Despite the leisure center undergoing a £1 million refurbishment last year, inspectors have found that the fire detection and alarm systems are in need of an upgrade. While spending the latest allocation of funds on upgrading systems and improving compartmentation, the council and leisure center management may also want to consider improving fire safety training at the same time.
The leisure center has confirmed that it is currently working alongside Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service to update its fire safety plans, which may well mean an extra level of fire safety awareness training for staff members.
