Delayed new leisure centre in financial trouble

The complex will replace the defunct pool at West Denton, which closed during the Covid pandemic

The stalled building of a new leisure centre has run into financial trouble.

Construction work is yet to begin on a new sporting hub in West Denton, Newcastle, which has been delayed multiple times.

Newcastle City Council won a £19.8m government grant to build it in October 2021.

Mark Nicholson, the local authority's chief finance officer, said there have been “very significant issues" in relation to the costs of the new centre.

An updated timescale for the centre's building and opening was unable to be provided, when asked for by the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The original aim was to have the centre - a replacement for its now-demolished predecessor in West Denton Way - ready to open by this summer.

That target date was then pushed back to December 2024, then again by a further few months.

Inflation has been blamed for rising costs, with the budget rising £6m over the original estimate.

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

Mr Nicholson said the project is “not as advanced as it was intended to be”, but claimed it was “still on track to meet the funding deadlines”.

Once built, the new facility will boast a 25m swimming pool with eight lanes, a 17m training pool, an aqua play pool, sports hall, fitness studio and gym, a library, community spaces, soft play area and a café.

West Denton and surrounding parts of Newcastle have been left without a swimming pool since the Covid pandemic.