A South London council is set to spend £3.6million on immediate upgrades to its leisure centres to bring them up to an ‘acceptable standard’. The cash would allow the council to carry out works at leisure centres it owns across the borough, including roof repairs, new lifts, air conditioning upgrades and installing a new play centre.
The council’s finance committee approved on February 27 plans to add schemes totalling £44.4m to the authority’s capital programme up to 2027/28. The committee previously approved a capital programme totalling £293.2m in October last year. The executive will make a final decision on the planned additions on March 4.
A report by council officers said the extra investment in Wandsworth’s roads and pavements, decarbonisation and sustainability projects, immediate upgrades required to leisure centres and other schemes would make the borough “more attractive”. It added the main planned additions to the council’s capital programme include an extra £3.6m in its leisure centres to bring them up to an “acceptable standard”, a further £19.8m to improve roads and pavements and £2.2m to decarbonise properties it owns.
Labour councillor Jeremy Ambache praised the aims of the planned investment at the meeting as he said the borough had fallen “into some state of disrepair in terms of… our capital assets, highways, footways, leisure centres [and] family hubs”.
Fenella Merry, executive director of finance, added the leisure centre upgrades would “bring those assets up to a standard where they will be able to be used for many years to come”.
The report includes a list of works planned at the leisure centres which would be funded by the extra investment. These are summarised below:
- Balham Leisure Centre: air conditioning upgrades, renewal of sports and studio hall flooring and revamp of accessible toilet/changing area.
- Tooting Leisure Centre: air conditioning upgrades, replacement of failed pool basin tiling and renewal of sports and studio hall flooring.
- Roehampton Leisure Centre: renewal of roof coverings and renewal of sports and studio hall flooring.
- Putney Leisure Centre: new play centre, revamp of kitchen in Dryburgh Hall, renewal of sports and studio hall flooring, revamp of accessible toilet/changing area and air conditioning upgrades.
- Latchmere Leisure Centre: roof and boundary wall repairs, renewal of sports and studio hall flooring, LED lighting installation, intruder alarm replacement and air conditioning upgrades.
- Wandle Leisure Centre: air conditioning upgrades and renewal of sports and studio hall flooring.
The report said upgrades to swimming pool filtration vessels, door replacements, new lifts and boiler repairs or replacements are also planned at various leisure centres.
Image: Tooting Leisure Centre. Credit: Google Maps
