Plans submitted for Morpeth’s new leisure centre
21 Oct 2019 ARCHIVED (over 3 months old) - view latest news
Plans to provide Morpeth with a state-of-the-art £21m leisure centre and community services hub have taken a step closer to reality.
Detailed plans for the centre which will be situated on The Terrace site on Gas House Lane have been submitted to Northumberland County Council’s planning service - with the first image of the centre released.
The leisure provision in the new facility is set to include a six-lane swimming pool with spectator gallery, a learner pool, spa facilities, a four-court sports hall, a new 100 station fitness suite, a dedicated spinning studio, large fitness studios, a cafe area and soft play.
The plans also incorporate a new community services hub which will see the town’s library move back to its former home on Gas House Lane, a customer service centre and a new adult learning facility with classrooms for STEM learning and catering.
Northumberland County Councillor and Morpeth ward councillor Richard Wearmouth said:
“ These are exciting plans for Morpeth offering a fantastic opportunity to create a development to benefit the whole community.
“A number of public consultation events have been held with local people and the feedback from these consultations has helped to develop the designs for the scheme.”
Planners are due to consider the application in February 2020 and if approval is given work will commence on site in Spring 2020.
Northumberland County Councillor responsible for leisure Councillor Cath Homer said:
“ As a council we are committed to improving leisure facilities and creating opportunities for people to be active and stay healthy. We all know how important exercise is in preventing illness and improving wellbeing and happiness.
“ The existing leisure centre in Morpeth is outdated and reaching the end of its life span. A new centre in Morpeth will ensure the needs of residents now and in the future are properly met. We are pleased that such rapid progress is being made and we are one step closer to bringing these fantastic new facilities to the local community.”
The new building has been designed sympathetically with the use of warm tones and brickwork connecting it to the prevalent use of brickwork within Morpeth Town Centre. Seating opportunities in the library garden are in the form of raised brick walls which will be constructed from salvaged brickwork from the former Willows and Beechfield buildings.
The funding for the centre has been financed by Northumberland County Council as part of an ambitious £65 million countywide investment programme to upgrade and transform sport and leisure facilities and to enhance the customer experience. This includes the building of new leisure centres in Berwick, Ponteland and Morpeth and major investment to refurbish and revitalise centres in Blyth and Hexham.
Advance Northumberland, the regeneration company established by Northumberland County Council, is responsible for delivering the project. The centre has been designed by GT3 Architects.