Council bosses have promised that a new leisure centre in Newcastle will finally be built – despite multiple setbacks and the costs spiralling to more than £34 million.

Morgan Sindall Construction has today been named as the new firm tasked with delivering a major sports and community hub in West Denton, after Newcastle City Council switched contractors in a bid to cut the development’s price tag. The project was awarded a £19.8 million grant from the previous government’s flagship Levelling Up Fund (LUF) in 2021 and had originally been due to open this summer.

However, building work is yet to start on the outer west site and its proposed opening date has now been pushed into 2026. There have been widespread concerns across the country about LUF-backed projects not being delivered, with cash-strapped local councils left scrambling to close funding shortfalls as inflation rates have significantly driven up construction costs.

But civic centre officials on Tyneside insisted on Thursday that the West Denton leisure centre, which will include new swimming pools and a library, will go ahead – with the first stages of construction now scheduled to begin in the “next few weeks” and take two years to complete. The council confirmed it had secured a £2.5 million investment from Sport England but will also have to spend £7.15 million itself to plug the scheme’s budget gap.

Since the leisure centre vision was first approved, its total costs have risen from £22.3 million to £26 million in 2022 and now to £34.15 million.

The government had initially set a deadline for the council’s LUF grant to be spent by March 2024, which was then extended to March 2025. Local authority bosses admit that they will now have to ask the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for another extension because of the continued delays.

Labour councillor Abdul Samad, the council’s cabinet member responsible for leisure, said: “I am delighted that work can begin on this very exciting project. Like many levelling up projects up and down the country it has been impacted by the soaring cost of building materials and labour. Although the project has been delayed the council has remained steadfast in its promise to build it and that has never been in doubt.

Plans for a new leisure centre in West Denton, Newcastle.
Plans for a new leisure centre in West Denton, Newcastle.

“During the course of the project we have had to appoint a new construction partner and secure additional sources of funding but now we have finally got there the project can get underway. This centre will boast an eight-lane swimming pool, training pool, gym, library, sports hall and café among other things, and I am confident the residents and visitors who use it will be impressed by its look and feel.”

It will be built in West Denton Way, on the site of the former leisure centre which was demolished last year. West Denton and surrounding areas have been left without a swimming pool since the old Outer West Pool was shut at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020 by operator GLL and, controversially, was never reopened.

The council said it had reduced the cost of the new leisure centre project by £4 million in recent months to ensure it can remain financially viable, but had done so “without compromising on quality”. The authority told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the source of its promised £7.15 million contribution was yet to be confirmed and that it may need to take out a loan.

Morgan Sindall Construction's area director for the North East and Cumbria, Alex Isted, said: "We are delighted to see this project move forward and to be able to utilise our expertise in order to help Newcastle City Council overcome the difficult, nation-wide challenges posed by historically high-levels of inflation. Leisure facilities bring immense value to communities.

“Better health and wellbeing are of course an end in themselves, but a more active and engaged population is also one likely to be less dependent on other services - and better able to contribute to economic growth.”