Sheffield leisure complex moves step closer

A six-lane swimming pool, learner pool and indoor tennis courts will be among the facilities at the redeveloped Graves Tennis and Leisure Centre.

It will also include the city’s first dedicated gymnastics and trampolining centre and will be home to the new National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine (NCSEM).

Coun Isobel Bowler, Sheffield City Council’s cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure said: “If approved, this plan will provide a major modern health and leisure complex in the south of our city and offer a long awaited replacement for the pool at Graves.

“The investment will dramatically improve the quality of leisure facilities in the area, which will increase participation levels and therefore improve health.”

The NCSEM will look at how sports science can help the general public get fitter and recover from ill health.

Sir Andrew Cash, chief executive of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, said: “The plans for the National Centre for Sport and Exercise Medicine at the Graves HQ are yet another significant step towards changing the culture to make it easier for everyone to be active every day, and shows that we are serious about transforming Sheffield into the most active city in the UK. Using exercise as part of a patient’s recovery and rehabilitation as well as using it to prevent ill health has been proven to have significant benefits and Sheffield will be looking to take advantage of this through the facilities within the Graves development as well as those at Concord and North Active.”

Building work is expected to start early next year and take 12 months to complete.