Leisure centre work begins after three-year delay

The development will replace the former West Denton Leisure Centre

Work to prepare the site of a new leisure centre is under way, almost three years after it was awarded funding.

The original plans for a swimming pool, sports hub and library in West Denton, Newcastle, anticipated it to be ready by this summer but construction has not begun.

The city council has confirmed engineers are on site diverting a gas main away from the area, making it "safe for the construction phase to begin".

The development will replace the former West Denton Leisure Centre, which was demolished in 2023.

An eight-lane pool will be among the facilities when the complex opens

Residents have been left without a swimming pool since the Outer West Pool was closed at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020 and did not reopen.

Newcastle City Council won £19.8m from the Conservative government's Levelling Up Fund in October 2021 for a new centre.

The estimated bill for the project increased to £34m and the council changed contractors in a bid to reduce the cost.

Civic centre leaders have insisted the new leisure centre will not be abandoned and will be delivered "without compromising on quality".

The Labour-led council has pledged to put £7.15m into the scheme, though it has not specified where it will find that money, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

A council spokesman said preparatory work on the site would take two weeks to complete.

"Then in October work to fill in old mine workings to stabilise the site will begin which could last 12 weeks and then the site will be safe for the construction phase to begin.

"We would like to thank residents for their patience and co-operation and want to reassure them we will do everything that we can to minimise disruption."