Council Moves Forward With Exciting Plans For Dunstable Leisure Centre

Plans to improve local facilities by carrying out a major redevelopment of Dunstable Leisure Centre are moving forward following positive results from a consultation which ended last week.
Over 465 residents formally responded to a three month public consultation about the proposed £20.1million project.

Council Moves Forward With Exciting Plans For Dunstable Leisure Centre

 

Plans to improve local facilities by carrying out a major redevelopment of Dunstable Leisure Centre are moving forward following positive results from a consultation which ended last week.

Dunstable Leisure Centre artist's impression
An artists impression of the new Dunstable Leisure centre

Over 465 people formally responded to a three month public consultation about a proposed £20.1million project to carry out improvements to leisure, culture and community services in the heart of Dunstable.

The plans are based on recommendations set out by the Leisure Facilities Strategy which was developed with extensive public involvement and identified a need to increase and improve health and leisure provision in the area.

Current facilities for Dunstable’s leisure centre, library and Citizens Advice are no longer fit-for purpose and this prompted the plans to modernise services. The proposal sets out how these services could be brought under the same roof by combining an expanded range of leisure activities and a new, bigger library, relocated from its current site in Vernon Place. This new community hub would include a flexible space for other public and community services, such as Citizens Advice and new day care facilities for adults with disabilities and Dunstable and District Disabled Sports (DADDS).

Feedback showed that there is a high level of support for the improvements to leisure facilities, which includes redeveloping and redesigning the swimming pool, new changing facilities, space for group exercise, a new, larger café and expanding the health and fitness suite to over 100 stations. Many of the suggestions for additional improvements were already included in the proposal and the council has responded by providing clarification on these points.

There was also a lot of support for integrating the public and community services. The benefits of creating a community hub include longer opening hours, increased capacity for services, and access to the shared facilities, including public toilets and the café. In order to carry out the extensive redevelopment needed to create this new leisure and cultural space the current Dunstable Leisure Centre would need to temporarily close next summer. However, the library and Citizens Advice will remain open at their current sites until the new facility is ready. Steps are being taken to ensure the inconvenience to leisure centre users is kept to a minimum, with additional capacity being created at nearby facilities.

Cllr Ian Dalgarno, Deputy Executive Member for Community Services, said: “This is a really exciting project as we are planning to modernise not only the leisure centre, but other important community services as well. It is part of our wider strategy to improve leisure facilities and will play an important part in the overall regeneration of Dunstable town centre. The decision to close the facility is a very difficult one, but we have not been able to identify another cost-effective location of the same size that has such excellent transport links and is so well placed to serve the community. I would also like to reassure people that this is a major redevelopment project and we are not simply redecorating the existing facility, with 50 per cent being completely rebuilt. By co-locating the library and Citizens Advice, we also release sites for further regeneration projects.

“I am really pleased with the number of people who have responded to the consultation and we have taken time to listen to the feedback. I am feeling extremely positive about this project and the future provision of such a high standard of facilities for the Dunstable area.”  

For the results of the consultation, please visit the website www.centralbedfordshire.gov.uk/dlc.