Work to start on razing leisure centre

Selby District Council has confirmed that work is about to commence to raze the Abbey Leisure Centre to the ground after it was severely damaged in the fire 12 months ago, less than two years after the building underwent a £1.1m revamp.

Council leader Mark Crane admitted the move to demolish the leisure centre will leave residents across the Selby district without a permanent facility for nearly two years.

The option to construct a new leisure centre on the Scott Street site in Selby had initially been predicted to cost up to £9m and comes as the council is having to slash expenditure across all its services amid the Government’s austerity drive.

The authority is faced with making £3.5m in cutbacks, with £1m needed to be saved during the next financial year alone.

Coun Crane confirmed that leisure services across the Selby district had suffered since the blaze on February 28 last year, but he was adamant that residents will eventually be served with better facilities.

He said: “We know the loss of the swimming facilities has been particularly difficult for our residents and we want them to see that progress is being made and we will deliver brand new first-class leisure facilities for the district.

“The new leisure centre will be better suited to people’s needs. Councillors have been out and about talking to residents at community engagement forums and other venues to let them know how the work is progressing and ensure that the facilities match what is needed.

“We want the new leisure centre to be a real focus for the whole community – this won’t just benefit Selby town, having this new facility on the doorstep will benefit people from across the district. It will be a real draw for the area.”

The Yorkshire Post revealed in November last year that the council was faced with a financial blackhole totalling nearly £1m after the decision was taken to demolish the leisure centre.

The new facility will be funded from a variety of sources including insurance cover, the council’s growth fund and a grant from Sport England, although a £929,000 shortfall was identified.

An options report by project managers from Turner & Townsend indicated that constructing a new leisure facility was expected to cost up to £9m.

However, councillors instructed officers to reduce the capital cost significantly during the design phase without impacting on facilities, while also seeking to maximise the grant available from Sport England and exploring how a new energy efficient leisure centre would reduce annual running costs.

A council spokeswoman confirmed yesterday that the total cost had been reduced to £7.25m and further savings are expected when the project is put out to tender later this year.

Sport England is due to announce in mid-March if a grant application for just over £2m has been successful. The rest of the funding is being met by the insurance settlement and a grant from the council. But if the full grant is not provided by Sport England, the new centre will have to be scaled back.

About 35 firefighters tackled the blaze early on February 28 last year, which caused parts of the building’s roof to collapse and left the swimming pool severely damaged. Early investigations revealed the blaze started in the steam room and sauna area.

The Wigan Leisure and Culture Trust, which was appointed by the council in 2009 to run the centre, confirmed 26 full-time and part-time posts have been lost in the wake of the fire. The firm oversees a smaller leisure centre in Tadcaster as well as facilities in Wigan and Cannock Chase in Staffordshire.

A gym and dance studio has opened in a former bingo hall in Selby as a stop-gap, but the leisure centre also provided a swimming pool, catering and a sports hall. The new facility is due to include a six-lane pool as well as a larger gym, health and fitness suite, a multi-purpose activity hall, fitness studio and a new outdoor all-weather sports pitch. The council confirmed it hopes the new centre will be open by the end of 2014.