New sports hub in Glastonbury to offer health support

The new sports hub will offer opportunities for sports, training, education and health and well-being support

Work to deliver a new sports hub will begin early in the new year.

Mendip District Council will extend Tor Sports and Leisure Centre in Glastonbury to create a new major leisure hub for the town.

The new centre will offer opportunities for sports, training, education and health and well-being support.

A total of £2.09 million will be invested in the project from the town deal grant, with a further £200,000 being provided through match funding.

Glastonbury was one of 101 towns across the UK which has received funding from the government's towns fund, with £23.6 million being provided for projects designed to enhance the town centre.

The project will see a one-and-a-half storey extension being built onto the existing clubhouse building to create a new multi-use sports hall.

The refurbishment will also include a gym, changing rooms, showers and toilets, three treatment rooms, a meeting space, a storage room, a social area with a bar and separate kitchenette, and a remodelled reception space complete with a café.

A total of £2.09 million will be invested in the project from the town deal grant

The transformed facilities will be available for use by a range of local sports and clubs, including cricket, football, bowls, rounders and acrobatics, and will provide opportunities for local people to improve their physical and mental health.

Councillor Liz Leyshon, who sits on the Glastonbury town deal board, said: "I am absolutely delighted to see the Glastonbury Community Sports and Leisure Hub planning application approved by the council.

"This bodes well for the rest of the town deal, and the start of a new era for Glastonbury."

The leisure complex is the first of the 11 town deal project to secure planning permission, with decisions currently pending on three other applications - the revamping of the Baily's Buildings, improvements to the tourism offer at Glastonbury Abbey, and the creation of a health and well-being hub at St Dunstan's House on Magdalene Street.