Consultation outcomes on Abbey Leisure Centre's facilities

Background

See our Leisure transformation consultation page for information about the leisure transformation project.

What we proposed in October 2021

Proposals at a glance

The table below shows the planned changes at a glance:

Proposals in more detail

Sports hall

We proposed that the sports hall will include a proposed mix of activities including an adventure play and climb area to maximise physical activity through fun. We will work with any clubs and groups who are affected by this change to support access to other activities and/or other facilities elsewhere.

Adventure play and climb

One of the five big issues identified by Sport England's Uniting the Movement strategy is the provision of positive experiences for children and young people and embedding physical activity through fun from an early age. We are planning to introduce a new adventure play space which will help us to support the young people to be more active. The range of play equipment is also designed to help develop physical literacy, confidence and social skills.

TAG active

An arena based game designed to test strategy, speed, agility, awareness and bravery. TAG active promotes fitness, fun and competition. The arena itself contains a complicated structure of inter-connected activity areas. Each area contains challenges that require a mixture of physical and mental agility. 

Fitness suite

We proposed to bring the existing fitness spaces together into one dedicated fitness space including cardiovascular and weights equipment, with separate group exercise studios. This will make the most of the space across the venue, allow us to consider adding new equipment and technology and improve the overall centre experience.

Wellbeing and toning suite

We proposed to include a wellbeing suite to provide a range of specialist equipment aimed at people who are older, suffering from a long term health condition or who are new to or returning to exercise. This space will be in addition to the gym, and will be a space for people to improve their health - physically, mentally and socially - through a shared experience with people in similar circumstances. The wellbeing suite will help people to become more active, improve their overall health, and may be a stepping stone for some to gain confidence before they start to use wider leisure facilities.

Sauna and steam room

We asked for your views about whether to keep the sauna and steam room facilities.

Squash

We proposed to keep one of the squash courts. 

Food and drink

We proposed to add healthy food and drinks to our new play spaces. This will help to support and maintain the sustainability of the centre, but it will also add to the overall experience and provide a much needed opportunity to create social spaces. These will be key for the community in recovering from the pandemic, and will help support our ongoing work to improve wellbeing through social interactions.

Changing rooms

We proposed to improve the changing rooms to ensure that they are appropriate to the new activity mix at the centre.

Floor plan

See the Abbey Leisure Centre proposed floor plan (PDF, 1 MB) for how the space will be laid out.

Have your say

Consultation outcomes

We would like to thank everyone who gave us their feedback on proposals to make changes to Abbey Leisure Centre. There was lots of interest shown through our digital survey, social media channels, face to face sessions and through several special interest groups.

The feedback has now been looked at and has helped shape how we take the work forward. The following has been agreed:

• The proposals will proceed broadly as planned, to introduce the changes to the facilities and activities.
• There were many comments about the future activity programme. Now that the facilities and activities have been confirmed, we are in a position to review the programme and we will take your comments into account where possible. This will be shared with customers and residents as it develops.
• Many people commented on the changing rooms so refurbishment of these spaces has been included. 
• Sauna and steam facilities were also mentioned in the feedback and as a result a sauna facility will be provided.
• We will contact clubs and key users who provided specific comments on the impact to them to see how we can best manage the changes.

We are looking to start the work later this year. Full details of start date, length of work and the impact it will have on access to the leisure centre during that time will be publicised as soon as the final details are confirmed. This will be shared with you through this website, at the centre, and directly with leisure centre members, clubs and groups.