Olympic swimmer opens leisure centre after £17m revamp
Swimmer Abbie Wood, who competed at the Paris and Tokyo Olympics, cuts the ribbon to mark the project completion
A leisure centre has been officially opened by an Olympic swimmer who used to train in its pool, following a £17 million upgrade.
The state-of-the-art MyActive Leek facility in Staffordshire brings together a 25-metre swimming pool with a gym, café, childrens play areas and even interactive rooms packed with technology, such as virtual golf.
The refurbishment, which covered a range of energy efficiency measures, was funded thanks to a wide range of public investment including the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, administered by our Salix team.
Two-time Olympian Abbie Wood told us: "Coming here today and opening the pool is a great full circle moment for me. I used to train here when I was 12 and it's great for the community to have these facilities."
MyActive Leek was refurbished with funding from Sport England, the government's Levelling Up fund, Staffordshire Moorlands Council and the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which is administered by our Salix team.
"I think it will naturally bring loads of people in. There's lots of great facilities and I think it will get young swimmers want to come to training and make it their regular sport, which is great," Abbie continued.
"If I didn't have a nice pool to train in when I was growing up I don't know how long I'd have wanted to stay. I've been going around with my family today - my sister wants to take up squash and my dad was trying out the golf simulator. There's something of interest here for everyone and so many ways to do exercise."
'We don't just do this for the now'
Thanks to the support of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, Staffordshire Moorlands District Council replaced old gas-fired boilers and water heaters with air source heat pumps, making the facility fossil fuel free. The building has also been fitted with LED lighting and improvements to its fabric to improve energy efficiency.
New solar panels on the roof are capable of generating approximately 42kW of renewable electricity.
Together, the measures are expected to save around 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, helping to reduce both the environmental impact and long-term energy consumption of the facility.
Staffordshire Moorlands District Council leader Mike Gledhill said: “Work to benefit climate change has been right at the heart of everything we’ve done, so when we started to look at the facility that we might be able to have here, decarbonisaiton, energy efficiency and sustainability were right at the heart of the projects.”
“To get from a traditionally-built small leisure centre dependent on standard gas and electricity and move to one now where we’ve got air source heat pumps, courtesy of the work that Salix and others have done for us, it sets the standard for the future for us.”
“We don’t just do this for now, we do this for the future and that’s what decarbonisaiton is all about.”
The scheme funding has played an important role in allowing the council to tackle one of its key energy-intensive buildings as part of its wider carbon reduction strategy. Without the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme investment, the council says progress on the energy improvements would have been slower.
The green improvements have been delivered alongside a much wider package of investment, demonstrating how different funding streams have been brought together to transform the area.
'We couldn’t have considered this without our funders'
The project has received £10 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund, more than £3 million from Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, and £1.8 million from Sport England.
A further £300,000 from Sport England’s Active Environment Budget has been used to improve the outdoor spaces around the centre, including new outdoor play and fitness facilities and pétanque courts.
During our visit we were able to understand how the building has been transformed as part of the wider project.
The new centre features a 25-metre, six-lane swimming pool and a larger teaching pool, providing increased capacity for swimming and lessons. The gym has been expanded, while a second group exercise studio and a dedicated indoor cycling studio have also been added.
There is a new community wellness suite, an indoor soft adventure play area and a redesigned reception area incorporating a café and new toilet facilities.
Councillor Gledhill added: “To turn this into the facility that you see today, we could not have done that without the money from government.”
“It’s not every often that a small market town gets £17 million worth of investment and to be able to use that for the benefit of the health and wellbeing of the community if absolutely fantastic.”
“This is going to be so much more than a traditional leisure centre because it’s a facility for people to come to, to meet with their friends, to socialise, develop interest and get involved in things they may never have thought of before in their lives.
“We couldn’t have considered doing this without our funders.”
Our senior programme manager Liam Gillard, who was amongst stakeholders attending the formal opening, said: “There’s been a significant amount of funding, not just through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, to significantly redevelop the site.
“Combined, the upgrades enabled by the funding ensure that the decarbonisation and energy efficiency measures improve the resilience of the site.”
More than £1.1 million in Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme grant directly funded LED lighting, an air source heat pump and solar PV on the roof of the facility.
It’s not often that a small market town gets £17 million worth of investment and to be able to use that for the benefit of the health and wellbeing of the community if absolutely fantastic.
Management of the site
The redevelopment is being managed by the council’s in-house company, MyActive, which has appointed a general manager and recruited staff ahead of the reopening.
The work was delivered by Alliance Leisure on behalf of Staffordshire Moorlands District Council.
The reopening was expected to happen at the beginning of the year, but the project was delayed due to extensive upgrades to the local electricity network.
Community impact
The redevelopment of Brough Park - where MyActive Leek is found - is part of other town-centre projects, with the vision to encourage more people to visit, stay and spend time in Leek.
Among other projects is the renovation of Leek Market Hall, a historic building whose origins date back to 1209. The town’s arts centre and library have also formed part of the wider regeneration programme, with investment being used to improve community facilities and the town-centre environment.
Councillor Gledhill said: “Leek is a special community and we want that special community to be healthy, active and fully involved and MyActive Leek is really going to help us to do that.”
Abbie added: “A lot of pools have been closing around the UK and it’s been quite hard on some communities.
“The fact that we’ve got a brand-new pool that’s going to be run efficiently, that’s so important for longevity – whether it’s for young swimmers learning to swim, local swimming clubs or gym users.”
The fact that we’ve got a brand-new pool that’s going to be run efficiently, that’s so important for longevity – whether it’s for young swimmers learning to swim, local swimming clubs or gym users.
Thank you to the team at Staffordshire Moorlands District Council for inviting us along to have a look at your project and join your celebrations.
