Newport Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre to temporary close for improvement work
Newport Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre is to temporarily close for five months whilst improvement work is carried out as part of a £1million pound investment.
Telford & Wrekin Council has announced the significant investment as a part of the council’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030.
The £1million investment includes external Carbon Reduction grant funding with a projected reduction of over 500,000 KWh per annum. Work will be carried out both as part of the council’s commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and to undertake essential maintenance work to the swimming pool tank, pool surround, water filtration and circulation. The works will also improve the temperature control within the gym. Combining these works will remove the need for separate closures.
As part of the work, an air source heat pump will be installed and internal cladding added to the building. The pool floor will also be remodelled to reduce the depth of the deep end and to try to increase the shallow water area. This will make the pool more energy efficient, improve facilities and increase the capacity of the swimming lesson programme, whilst still allowing all existing activities to continue.
Cllr Eileen Callear, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Visitor Economy said: “There is never a good time to have to close one of our leisure facilities to make improvements, but with time-sensitive external funding available from the Carbon Reduction grant we have taken the decision to carry out this vital work. It was not possible to carry out this work during the lockdowns.
"We apologise for the obvious inconvenience, however due to the nature of the work it is unfortunately essential. The facilities will close from Monday 6 December with an anticipated reopening of the gym from the end of March and the pool from the end of April 2022. We hope that our regular users including aspirations members will understand the need for this temporary inconvenience”.
Councillor Carolyn Healy, Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Green Spaces, Natural and Historic Environment, said: “This is a really exciting opportunity for Telford & Wrekin Council to continue to work towards our target of our operations to be carbon neutral by 2030. A recent report to cabinet has highlighted that the council is on track to achieve this. The work at Newport Swimming Pool and Leisure Centre is part of a wider package of activity in our Carbon Neutral plan”.
Due to the nature of the work all facilities at this site will close from Monday 6 December with an anticipated reopening of the gym from the end of Marchand the pool from the end of April 2022.
