Almost £2million will be spent as a ‘once in a generation investment’ to upgrade a leisure center in Somerset.
Fusion Leisure operates the Tor Sports and Leisure Center on the A361 Street Road in Glastonbury under a 50-year lease with Mendip District Council. The facility has been identified as one of 12 projects under the City of Glastonbury’s £23.6million deal, with the intention of bringing together different local clubs to create a true “multi-sport venue “.
Fusion Leisure and the council have now confirmed that up to £1.87million of the city’s deal funding will be spent on the facility, with the final business case submitted to the government at the end of June. Fusion Leisure commercial director Rob Taylor outlined details of the scheme during a presentation to the council’s review panel in Shepton Mallet on Tuesday evening (May 17).
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As part of the proposal, the existing pavilion on the site will be demolished and replaced with a “bespoke sports and leisure center building”, providing a new home for several sports, including field hockey, tennis and the netball. A new all-weather pitch, tiered seating and dressing rooms will be delivered, allowing Glastonbury Town Football Club to move from their current home on Godney Road (not far from a planned development of 90 new homes).
Additionally, a new year-round bowling green will be provided to Wyrral Park Bowls Club, allowing them to expand their membership. Mr Taylor told the committee: “The £1.87million will see a partial refurbishment of the existing building and a partial new build.
“We have been impacted by the increased construction costs and all the challenges that poses. We have multiple stakeholders on site, we have a lot of disputes to settle – but really what we are going to create at the end is a fantastic building which will bring people back to Glastonbury and provide a great facility to use.
“This is a once-in-a-generation investment and it elevates All Mendip Towns Leisure Park to the level it should be.” Councilor Alison Barkshire – who represents many villages between Frome and Radstock – wondered if the scheme would be environmentally friendly enough.
She said: “According to the information we have, there are absolutely no plans to do solar panels either on the roofs of your buildings or in your large car parks, which would lend themselves very well to solar carports. I myself asks if you don’t do it because you don’t think about it or because you don’t have the capital?
“I really think, given that the price of energy is skyrocketing, it would be in all of our interests if we could do something about it.” Ian Munday, head of asset transformation at the council, replied: “We have spoken with Fusion about decarbonisation programmes.
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“They’re under pressure from customers across the country. They’re just changing staff, and when the new person starts in June, we have to sit down with them and figure out how we can get into the decarbonization program, which we’ll have to apply for.
“Part of the renovation and rebuilding of Tor Leisure will include the latest technology, including solar panels.” Municipalities can apply for grants from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) to make their buildings – including recreation centers – greener under the Public Sector Decarbonization Program (PSDS) .
South Somerset District Council’s District Executive Committee voted on May 12 to allocate an additional £1.6m in funding for decarbonisation efforts at its facilities in Wincanton and Yeovil, in addition to more than £3m BEIS grants. As well as the Glastonbury site, Fusion operates four other leisure facilities under its agreement with the council – Frome Leisure Centre, the Shepton Mallet Lido, Strode Swimming Pool and Fitness Center in Street and the Wells Leisure Centre.
Map showing the location of Glastonbury Towns Fund projects (Image: Mendip District Council)
Councilor Chris Inchley, who chairs the oversight committee, asked if further investment in the lido would be planned in the near future. He said: “There’s an opportunity to expand there – there’s green space behind it and the parking lot is probably underused most of the time.”
Mr Taylor replied: “After the pandemic, I think we’re focused on our recovery for the first two years and then we’ll start to build that capital. Shepton Mallet Lido is firmly on our list, and Fusion likes a lido – you look at the beaches that Fusion runs, and they really like to expand them with other services to go beyond a summer season and get full service.”
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Source: www.somersetlive.co.uk
This notice was published: 2022-05-20 03:04:00
