Bedworth's new leisure centre delayed as costs spiral to £34m

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The council is undertaking emergency talks with Sports England



Bedworth's new leisure centre has been hit by delays as the costs have spiralled to £34 million. Initially the new Physical Activity Hub and new features in the Miners Welfare Park was supposed to cost £27m.

The new facility, which will replace the ageing leisure centre, was also due to be open in late 2024. But now it has emerged that the costs have now hit £34m, therefore meaning the start date has been delayed and therefore it will not be ready to open in December 2024 as first thought.

Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council previously admitted that it faced a' 'huge challenge' to ensure it was built on time and also on budget, and has now admitted that the project is way behind.

It is now working with Sports England, one of the major funders of the project, on what is known as a 'value engineering' exercise to try and get the project back on track. The latest council Business, Regeneration and Planning Overview and Scrutiny Panel (OSP) agenda explains the situation, saying: "As with many projects at this time, there has been a significant increase in costs due to high inflation, with supply chain, fuel and utilities also continuing to increase which is subsequently impacting on the construction industry and ability to confirm fixed cost pricing.

"This has created a funding gap and there is now a comprehensive value engineering exercise taking place to establish how the scope and specification of the project can be amended to bring the costs within budget. This value engineering exercise is being supported by Sport England through their professional team and providing experience and knowledge from many other leisure construction projects across the country, to ensure quality and value for money is being received.

"It is worth noting that any value engineering, also has to be approved by the external funders if it changes the original outcomes detailed in NBBC’s funding submissions.

"Due to the value engineering exercise which will identify the overall costs, affordability and future viability, there will be a delay to the project start and end date. These are being worked through for the overall programme for delivery which was profiled for completion in December 2024."

No new estimated costs or start or completion date will be known until the 'value engineering' exercise has taken place.

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Plans for £27m activity hub could be put on hold



Plans for a new physical activity hub, replacing a 1970s leisure centre, could be put on hold.

The £27.5m scheme, paid for in part by the government's levelling up fund, was due to be built on the Miners’ Welfare Park in Bedworth, Warwickshire.

But amid "substantial inflationary pressures", Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough councillors are being advised there should be a review of the project and funding available.

Costs could have escalated to more than £34m, a council report said.

The report to January's cabinet meeting says newly-identified extensive groundworks would be required for the building, as well as "significant inflation to construction costs".

The project was set to be funded by council borrowing and a number of grants, including £2m from Sport England and £14.95m from the government.

Council leader Kris Wilson said the authority had an "overriding duty" to ensure the project was "affordable and deliverable".

"When we originally budgeted for the project, no one could have predicted the extraordinary financial pressures we are now facing," he said.

A delay would allow the council to identify potential funding options, he explained.

Construction had been planned to start in 2022 and was expected to take two years.

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"White Elephant"

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New £30m physical activity hub set to open



A new £30.6m physical activity hub is set to open its doors next month in Warwickshire.

Bedworth Physical Activity Hub, external will open to the local community at 09:00 GMT on 10 March, Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough confirmed.

The centre, operated by Everyone Active, will include a range of facilities including a 25m pool, a learner pool with movable floor and a 100-station gym, as well as a cafe, changing areas and meeting rooms.

Borough councillor Brady Hughes said the hub would benefit the local community, offering something for residents of all ages, for years to come.

"This really is fantastic news for our borough, and we are all looking forward to the opening of the new physical activity hub in Bedworth," she said.

"The leisure facilities now on offer in Nuneaton and Bedworth, following the council's investment, provide residents with a range of opportunities to support them in improving their health and well-being and we hope that people take up this opportunity."

The centre will replace the nearby Bedworth Leisure Centre, which the council said would close the day before the hub's opening ceremony takes place.

All memberships will be transferrable to the new site, it added.

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Date revealed when Bedworth Leisure Centre will close after more than 40 years



A date when the old Bedworth Leisure Centre will close has been revealed. It is being replaced by a new Physical Activity Hub which has been built opposite.

Bedworth's Leisure Centre will officially close forever in just a matter of weeks. It has been revealed that the old leisure centre will close on Monday, March 9.

The last ever sessions there will be swimming sessions and the centre will close at 7pm. It will mark the end of an era for the building, which was first opened in 1974.

The ageing centre is being replaced by the giant new £30.6m physical activity hub, which shadows over the old leisure centre. It was revealed that the new facility will officially open 24 hours later - on Tuesday, March 10.

Once the new hub is open, the old centre, including the famed flumes, will be demolished and the land will become a new car park.

While it has been confirmed that the new hub will open on March 10, not all of the brand new facilities will be ready to use on the day.

The new 25m pool, learner pool with movable floor and a 100-station gym with Life Fitness and EGYM equipment. as well as meeting rooms and a grab and go cafe will be ready for customers

But the four-court sports hall will not open until Monday, March 16 and a dedicated Reformer Pilates studio. will be launched on Saturday, March 21.

A new 9v9 all-weather 3G sports pitch is set to be open in September. It is not yet known when new skate park, which will replace the old one in the Miners Welfare Park, will be constructed.

https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/local-news/date-revealed-bedworth-leisure-centre-33486855

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'Fabulous' new centre brings excitement to town



Even though the outside partly resembles a building site, there were dozens of people lined up outside a town's new £30.6m Physical Activity Hub when I arrived on Tuesday morning.

The new centre, in Bedworth, Warwickshire, opened to the public for the first time today, with diggers still rumbling in the background near a long queue of swimmers and gym users.

Workers in high-vis jackets could be seen near fenced-off paths and freshly upturned soil, as people chatted away ahead of the 09:00 GMT opening.

The centre, run by Everyone Active, in partnership with Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council, is replacing the old Bedworth Leisure Centre.

That site was a staple of the Warwickshire town for decades and people in the queue told the BBC that many of them learned how to swim there, along with forming other childhood memories.

Paul Blackshaw, 73, said he had watched the new building rise from the ground on his daily walks.

A regular at the old leisure centre, he was among the first in the queue for the gym.

"I walk around here every day because I'm a local lad," he said. "I've seen it go up from nothing to this and they've done really well."

The new site has a 25m swimming pool, a learner pool with a movable floor, a 100-station gym, a wellness hub and a cafe.

A sports hall is due to open later this month, with an external sports pitch arriving in September.

Maureen Palmer, 79, and her husband Steve, 80, came from nearby Ash Green to be among the first in the pool.

Asked why she had not had a lie-in, Maureen Palmer responded: "This will never happen again, in my lifetime anyway, so why not be one of the first?"

Emerson Graham, 54, who learned to swim at the old centre in 1976, said the investment sent an important message to people living nearby.

"I just think it shows that the town's not forgotten," he said.

While an "excited" Kate Frith, 69, also from Ash Green, had not swum for a couple of years but saw the opening on Facebook and decided it was time.

"When you're starting to get as old as I am I think it's really important that you keep active," she said.

"This is fabulous. It's about time the people of Bedworth have got something positive going on."