Improvement plans to make Hartlepool leisure and sports centres 'fit for the future'

Council bosses are looking at how they can revamp leisure facilities in Hartlepool to ensure they are ‘fit for the future’.
Mill House Leisure Centre, Raby Road, HartlepoolMill House Leisure Centre, Raby Road, Hartlepool
Mill House Leisure Centre, Raby Road, Hartlepool

Hartlepool Borough Council adult and community based services committee heard from council officers one of their aims for the sector going forward is to assess leisure facilities in the town and plan the next steps for provision.

Leisure facilities currently on offer from the council in Hartlepool include Mill House Leisure Centre, Brierton Sports Centre, Headland Sports Hall and Grayfields Recreation Ground.

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Jill Harrison, director of adult and community based services, said it is about ensuring the buildings are fit to serve the town for the future.

She said: “What we recognise is that some of those (leisure facilities) are coming to the end of their life perhaps.

“The services we provide are very good but sometimes the buildings are a challenge, so there is some work going on at the moment around making sure our sport and leisure facilities are fit for the future.

“There will be some options coming forward in relation to that later in the year.”

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Coun Stephen Thomas said it is an important challenge for the council in regards to leisure facilities, as they are very important to people in the town.

He said: “There’s some real big challenges coming up around the future of our leisure facilities within the town.

“Those facilities really do impact on the lives of a lot of the people who we support.

“It’s absolutely vital the considerations of this committee are taken into account when those big decisions are made in the future about some of those leisure and recreational facilities in the town.

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“They’re going to have a major impact on people’s ability to access very important services going forward.”

Gemma Ptak, assistant director for preventative and community based services, said a report will come forward to the committee soon with provisional options regarding leisure centre facilities, and the council would then look to go to public consultation over options.

She also praised the work done at Mill House Leisure Centre in recent years in teaching and encouraging children to swim.