Wellington Civic and Leisure Centre opening delayed

The delay is a result of ongoing issues concerning the standard and quality of the electrical system installed into the building by contractors.

Telford & Wrekin Council deputy leader Councillor Richard Overton, cabinet member with special responsibility for Borough Towns Development, said: “We would like to apologise to all users of the leisure and community facilities in Wellington for what unfortunately is an unavoidable delay in the opening date.

“However, the council has a responsibility to the public to ensure that we only accept projects that are of a high quality and that the facilities are fit for purpose.

“Unfortunately there has been an ongoing issue about the quality of electrics that have been put into the building and this has meant that elements of the original installation have had to be replaced.

“The council will therefore not accept the building as being fully complete at this stage, I know when the electrical installation is complete to our satisfaction, we will have a fantastic facility ready for opening.

“We anticipate the building will open to the public in March and every effort will be made by the contractor and the Council to deliver this.

“We realise that this will cause inconvenience, particularly to the users of the leisure facilities and swimming pool, and would again like to apologise for the delay, which is out of the council’s control.

“Major building projects like this can at times have issues as part of the development but we have to ensure they are fit for purpose before accepting them and we are determined that our residents will have the best building possible when it opens for public use.”

The investment includes extensive refurbishment and remodelling of the existing facilities, a new register office, a state of the art library, community meeting rooms and offices.