Tarka Leisure Centre — Attraction in North Devon

I use the tennis facilities sporadically when visiting the area and my experience gets worse every time. Such a shame as the facilities are top notch and N Devon is lucky to have it. However, the booking process, general upkeep, management and staff training are dire. There’s no online booking so you have to call. Good luck getting through to someone who has even the faintest idea how to reserve a court, that’s of course if they answer the phone in the first place.

I visited the other day after a very painful 3 phone calls trying to book. About 10 mins into our hit we decided we needed new balls. I went to reception and enquired about buying a tube and was handed 2 old scruffy balls. I asked if I could buy some new ones and the receptionist looked surprised at such a strange question. She then picked up a tube but said she didn’t know how much they cost and eventually said she’d put it through as shuttlecocks(!). I was charged £8. I thought that was steep but didn’t want to argue as my court time was already being eaten into. I then opened the tube and realised they weren’t new. She questioned how I knew that and I had to show her that the seal had been ripped off and it was sitting at the bottom of the tube. I said they must have new balls for sale. She said she didn’t normally deal with tennis ball sales. Seriously?! She’s a receptionist in the tennis reception……

Anyway eventually after about 5 mins she came back wielding a tube of new balls.

The indoor courts are stifling hot. They seriously need to air condition them and it’s surprising that they have in the past been used for level 1 and national tournaments. The heat is bordering on dangerous.

The courts don’t look like they’re swept from one week to the next. Old balls aren’t removed and there’s training paraphernalia on the edge of the courts. The nets between courts are also broken so you spend much of your time collecting balls from your neighbour’s court. Basically, you book a specific court but don’t expect anyone to have actually readied it for you. I can’t comment on the changing and toilet facilities as have never used them but if they’re anything like the court maintenance I wouldn’t expect much.

Finally and this is my biggest gripe, the cost. £24 an hour for an indoor court and weekends and anytime after about 4pm during the week is considered peak time. Quite why they’ve decided weekends are peak time is beyond me because the times I’ve visited me and my partner have been the only people there. The courts are so poorly underused and I suspect a lot of that is down to cost. Any management with an ounce of business acumen should surely understand that you only charge peak prices when there’s a surplus demand. That is clearly not the case at weekends, certainly in my experience. Such a shame, as the facilities used to be great and as above, the area is spoilt with having so many indoor courts for public use. I had a quick look at Atlantic Racquet Centre as a comparison and they have the ClubSpark online booking facility and it’s half the price. Perhaps Tarka should have a look at how their...

Today was my first visit, and all I can say is... What a massive disappointment.

£7.50 for less than 30 minutes in the pool is extortionate, especially given we weren't allowed to switch between the main pool and the small pool (we had little kids who were unsure of which pool to go in). The main issue is that you do t get a set time in the pool, you pay for the current session. Then the life guards throw everyone out at the same time, meaning that there is a scramble for facilities. It's all very poorly managed.

The pool itself is OK, though rather plain, and the ladders to enter are very poor, being inlaid into the wall making them very difficult to see and use - the kids with us couldn't use them at all. Shamefully too, the first two cubicles I visited in the "changing village" were unusable as the benches that lock the doors were broken, and the first locker I tried to use had a broken wrist band. I can only imagine how poorly maintained this facility will be going forward, but given its run by the same group that ran the NDLC into the ground, I don't have much hope.

Most annoying though, was that the all singing, all dancing endless ski slope was closed, albeit the air-con was still running. I wonder how much that's costing, not to mention that it's a spectacular waste of energy. But it's not annoying that it was closed, rather that the council used it's building as an excuse not to include facilities like squash courts, which I would absolutely have used.

In response to Tarka Leisure...

I've now been to the centre 4 times, and not once has the ski room been occupied. It's an undeniable waste of money, and whoever decided upon placing the equipment there should be ashamed.

With regards to the pool, I disagree that there is public swimming from 6:30am to 3pm every day. In fact, on the day of our visit, the inflatable session was the only public session (at least according to your terrible website).

Frankly, the pool is not fit for purpose because it's too small and cannot accommodate those who want to use it. Swimming should be fun and spontaneous, but at this centre it's highly regimented and I've no doubt it will dissuade people from swimming, which surely defeats the object of the new centre.

To me it looks as though the new centre was delivered with one goal in mind... Make it as cheap as possible. One of the lifeguards told us that the trainer pool was supposed to be 1.8m deep, but it is only 1.2m deep, however this was not picked up until it was too late to rectify because the project was managed so poorly.

Finally, one thing that is utterly crazy, is that there is nothing to mark the entrance. On a sunny day you can't see through the glass and unless the automatic door happens to be open people can't find the entrance. The design of the centre and the facilities on offer is ill conceived, it's build was poorly managed, and it's management is officious and disorganised, and as mentioned in my original review maintenance seems to be non-existent.

Barnstaple...

Disappointed. Visiting family in Devon and visited this centre for the pool mainly with my brother and partner. First of all, the member of staff at entrance was too busy debating with a customer to notice the queue building up. Another member of staff eventually noticed and called us over, only to then practically laugh at me as I was holding cash - ‘We don’t take cash here’ - there are no signs anywhere saying this inside or out…

Eventually got around to paying after staff member explained how there was only a couple of lanes in main pool available and the other heated pool wasn’t available. Once entering the pool we were then rudely told that the empty lane we were in wasn’t available as ‘the lifeguard can only see up to 6 lanes and we were in the 7th’ - which then left us swimming in a very narrow lane with three other people. Not a very comfortable swim at all and other lanes left empty for no decent reason.

We were also told during payment that the other pool (heated) wasn’t available as there was lessons happening until 21:30. We noticed that the pool was empty from 18:30 so by 19:00 we asked a lifeguard if we could use that pool and he said we could until 20:30 - so we were in a narrow lane when we all could have been in the other pool instead!

One of the worst things we witnessed is an older lady entering with her mobility scooter to only then be left on her own as the four young lifeguards struggled to help her into the pool. Which then led to her trying her best to walk herself into the pool using the stairs and she was obviously struggling! I can only imagine how awful that experience was for her! Those four lifeguards were then hanging out by the lockers chatting away for a good half an hour. Maybe better to get them guarding the pool so more people could use the unused lanes and other pool? Which would lead to less complaints and happy paying customers instead.

That being said, it’s a new leisure centre and I am sure the owner will see these reviews and take them seriously enough to improve...