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.
