Construction starts on new leisure centre

CONSTRUCTION of a heavily-delayed new leisure centre in Newcastle has finally begun - six years after a community lost its swimming pool.

- By DANIEL HOLLAND Local democracy reporter [e-mail]

Deputy Council Leader Alex Hay and Alex Isted of Morgan Sindall at the new West Denton Leisure Centre

Spades went into the ground on Thursday morning to mark the start of work on the state-of-the-art Outer West Leisure Centre in West Denton.

The building of the new sport and leisure complex has become a lengthy saga, plagued by setbacks and escalating costs.

The former Outer West Pool shut its doors at the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and never reopened, before it was later demolished alongside the neighbouring customer service centre to make way for a modern replacement.

It had been hoped that the new centre would be ready to open in summer 2024, but that target was missed and the estimated cost of the scheme rocketed from an original £22.3 million to just shy of £40 million.

Inflation hitting the construction industry, the need to move a high voltage power cable running across the site in West Denton Way, and old underground mine workings have all been factors in the long delays, which have sparked concern over children in a deprived part of Tyneside missing out on the health benefits and lifesaving skills swimming can provide.