Newcastle leisure centre construction delay update as residents plead for 'something new'
Building work on a long-awaited new leisure centre in Newcastle should now start in the summer, frustrated locals have been told.
Construction of a new swimming pool and leisure complex in West Denton has been hit with a series of setbacks since Newcastle City Council won £19.8 million of Government funding to help pay for the development in 2021.
The centre had been due to open last summer, but residents in the outer west of the city have been left concerned by a lack of progress.
Local authority bosses said last November, when critical work to fill in old mine workings beneath the construction site in West Denton Way began, that they hoped to see construction of the £34 million new facility start early in 2025.
But civic centre officials now say that, with changes to the area’s road access and electricity supply still needed, the building work has now been pushed back to the summer.
Christine Duggan, who lives in the neighbouring Denton Park House housing block, is among those annoyed by the continuing delays to a redevelopment of the demolished Outer West pool, library, and customer service centre.
The 74-year-old told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “We just need something new on this side of the city. There is nothing at the moment.
“We have been waiting for this for years now and it feels like nothing is happening. They’ve taken the library away and we now have just a little Portakabin in the car park. They took the council offices.
“There was nothing wrong with that building and it had not been up for that long. Since then, all we have been given is excuse, after excuse, after excuse. It is doing my head in.”
Like many building projects backed by the former Tory Government’s flagship Levelling Up Fund, the West Denton project has been hit with spiralling costs over the years since its grant was signed off.
The price tag for the development has jumped from an original £22.3 million to a predicted £34.2 million, with the city council dropping its original contractors in order to get a cheaper quote and to seek extra funding.
As well as securing financial help from Sport England, the council has pledged to put £7.15 million into the scheme itself to ensure it goes ahead.
A council spokesperson said: “The project to build a new leisure centre and swimming pool at West Denton is progressing well. Utilities such as gas, water and telecoms cables have been diverted around the site and Northern Power Grid will be making changes to the electric supplies in the area soon.
“Old mine workings have been filled in with concrete to stabilise the site and work continues on the surface to level it in preparation for construction. Works to divert the site’s access road to the shopping centre will begin soon.
“We hope to sign contracts with our construction partner shortly so construction can begin on the building in the summer. We remain absolutely committed to delivering this exciting leisure centre and swimming pool complex for the city’s residents.”
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