Newcastle leisure centres spared cuts as operator…

Newcastle leisure centres spared cuts as operator slashes opening hours at more than 200 sites

Leisure centres in Newcastle will not have their opening hours slashed, despite their operator making a swathe of cutbacks to reduce its energy bills.

Bosses at GLL, which operates under the Better Leisure brand, announced this week that it would temporarily reduce opening times at more than 200 of its 268 facilities across the UK. The charitable social enterprise said that the cost of living crisis has sent its energy costs spiralling to more than triple what they were in 2019 .

But the reduced timetables between December and Easter will not come into effect in Newcastle, where GLL operates the East End Pool, Gosforth Leisure Centre, Eldon Soft Play, Newcastle Trampoline Park, Walker Activity Dome and West Denton Leisure Centre.

A spokesperson confirmed: “GLL is reducing opening hours in some but not all of the leisure centres and gyms it operates. Newcastle remains largely unaffected. There are no planned changes to leisure centre opening hours within the city.”

Newcastle City Council handed GLL control over a number of leisure facilities across the city due to budget cuts over recent years. The non-profit organisation has faced major criticism over its decision to leave the West Denton Swimming Pool closed since the start of the Covid pandemic.

GLL will also be tasked with running the new West Denton Leisure Centre, which is due to be built after the council won a Levelling Up Fund bid for almost £20m from the Government. There have been worries about the future of the project, which has already seen its proposed opening date pushed back to the end of 2024 and its expected costs jump from £22.3m to £26m.

Liberal Democrat councillor Ali Avaei raised concerns this week that the GLL cutbacks could have some impact too, calling for assurance from the council that progress on the new facility and its opening times “will not be affected”. He added:“We need to have a dynamic approach when it comes to running our leisure facilities and ensure that we don’t rely on one single business model. I understand that sometimes outsourcing these services to companies like GLL may seem the most cost effective method to the tax payer, but other options such as facilities run by local community groups and even direct operation by the City Council must also be fully explored.”

Labour councillor Lesley Storey, the council’s cabinet member responsible for leisure, said on Thursday that she remains “absolutely confident” that the new pool will be built as planned. Coun Storey said: “We are aware GLL are going to temporarily reduce opening hours at some of their facilities.

"However, we have been reassured that Newcastle’s leisure centres and swimming pools will not be affected so we do not see any impact on swimming for schools or the public. GLL say this is a temporary measure that applies to existing facilities outside of the city, so there will be no impact either on the Outer West Leisure project which is yet to be built.”

She added: “We recognise the vital role leisure centres and swimming pools play in the physical and mental wellbeing of people’s lives. We are absolutely committed to ensuring we have excellent provision, hence our successful bid to Government for £19m of levelling up funding to build the new leisure centre in the Outer West that will be a flagship development for the whole city.

“However, we also recognise that every business, especially leisure operators, are under severe financial pressure and reviewing their operations due to rising energy costs which are expected to continue well into next year.”

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