As leisure complexes become increasingly popular with consumers, local authorities are increasingly granting planning permission for upgrades and redevelopments for existing facilities along with a significant uptick in new centres. This has seen Tewkesbury Borough Council welcome the start of work on a new leisure centre for the town which is expected to open to the public by summer 2016.
Tewkesbury Leisure Centre will replace the Cascades centre in the town which has been described as “ageing” and “unfit for purpose” by local residents. Councillors are hopeful that upgrading the town’s leisure offering will encourage people of all ages to make use of the new centre as a means of improving general health and engaging in new hobbies.
Lead member for health and wellbeing at Tewkesbury Borough Council, Councillor Claire Wright says; “We are really excited to be providing our residents and visitors with this brand new leisure centre.
“There will be so much on offer for customers to choose from – keeping fit really will be an enjoyable thing to do.
“We are committed to supporting the health and wellbeing of our residents and I hope this new leisure centre will encourage people of all fitness levels and abilities to visit and get involved.”
Upon opening, the centre will give local residents access to a range of modern facilities, including a 25 metre swimming pool with fun features such as water cannons, spray jets and a smaller “junior swim” paddling pool for infants. A 60 station gym, sauna and steam room and activity studio will be capable of hosting a range of different classes, while the pool area will be overlooked by a coffee shop with a viewing area.
Developer Pick Everard will act as project manager for the construction period, having been involved in the development process since December 2013. In this role, it will be responsible for providing cost and design advice for the centre, which in total is expected to cost around £7.5 million to complete.
Contractor Willmott Dixon has also been appointed by Tewkesbury Borough Council under the Scape national framework, and will work closely with the council and project manager to ensure construction remains on schedule. The firm has already pledged to make the process as beneficial to the local community as possible, meaning that the majority of jobs created by the project will be filled by local contractors and materials required will be acquired through the local supply chain.
Partner at Pick Everard, Alastair Hamilton, says; “We are proud to be working with Tewkesbury Borough Council to deliver this fantastic new facility.
“It adds to the investment the borough council is making to the borough and will ensure services for users for generations to come.
“With our project and cost management, it has meant that the contract with the leisure operator and contract with the builder could be entered on the same day with zero risk of unaffordability.”
No related posts found for this post.
