Urgent plans for a new £22m leisure centre in the outer west of Newcastle look set to be approved this week.
A new state-of-the-art centre boasting two swimming pools, other sports facilities, and a library is coming to West Denton after the scheme was named among the first to get a major cash boost from the government’s Levelling Up Fund last year. There have been serious concerns about whether Newcastle City Council bosses will have enough time to demolish the area’s existing leisure centre and build its replacement in time to meet a tight funding deadline – with the government having said money from the first round of the Levelling Up Fund should be spent by March 2024, or into the following financial year for larger projects deemed exceptional.
But the scheme can take a significant step forward this week when it appears before the local authority’s planning committee, where councillors are expected to grant permission for it to go ahead. The new two-storey centre would replace the current outer west pool that was shut down by operator GLL in 2020, as well as the other leisure facilities, library, and community hub in West Denton Way.
Read More: Council insists it has 'huge confidence' in new Newcastle leisure centre despite deadline worries
It will include a 25m eight-lane swimming pool, a smaller 17m trainer pool, a sports hall, fitness studios and a gym, a library, community rooms, a café, and a children’s soft play area.
A planning officer’s report, recommending that councillors back the proposals at this Friday’s hearing, concludes: “The redevelopment of Outer West Pool would replace a disused leisure centre with a high-quality facility offering a range of sport, leisure and community facilities which address identified shortfall in the city and will support healthier lifestyles and community cohesion in the local area. The leisure centre will also help to support the vitality and viability of West Denton District Centre, bringing activity and football to support the wider centre and businesses operating within it.”
Council documents show that the Newcastle Swim Team has raised concerns over the size of the site’s smaller pool, saying it should be increased to 20m, and that the spectator seating provided at the centre will be insufficient for it to host competitions. And Sport England, while broadly supportive of the plans, warned that "vital contextual information" is missing from the council's designs and that no justification had been provided for the scale of the facilities.
But the council said that there is “nothing from a planning position that would substantiate a planning reason for refusal” based on Sport England’s concerns and that it is “reasonable” to think that there is now a shortage of swimming provision in the city which this new centre would address, following the closure of the Fenham and West Denton pools.
Despite hoping to attract far more visitors than the current West Denton leisure facilities, with a maximum capacity of 420 people compared to current peaks of 246, the new site will have fewer parking spaces – 39 down from 52. But the council says that an additional private parking area north of the complex will also be made available to visitors, offering an extra 209 spaces.
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