£20m leisure centre faces further delay as completion date pushed back

Nicholas Thomas, Local Democracy Reporter

Construction work on a new leisure centre is expected to finish “at the end of the year”, with more detailed opening plans set to be announced in the winter.

Slight delays have hit the £20 million project in Newport, including the discovery of archaeological remains on part of the building site, which held up works for several weeks.

The new attraction, which is being built on land next to the University of South Wales’ building on Usk Way, will replace the former Newport Centre as the council’s main leisure destination in the city centre.

Around three extra weeks were added onto the council’s construction timetable last year, after builders found partial remains of a former canal retaining wall while excavating the site.

Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, who leads Newport City Council, said work was paused so archaeologists could record the findings, but the issue was “resolved as quickly as possible”.

Responding to a question from Cllr Ray Mogford, seeking an update on the leisure centre project, Cllr Batrouni said construction is “now anticipated to be completed at the end of the year”.

However, Cllr Mark Howells, who chairs a council scrutiny committee, said he was concerned the local authority had “moved the goalposts” on the project’s schedule, adding that at a July meeting, officers “wouldn’t give any indication on the timescales” beyond needing “some time” to fit out the new building.

A scrutiny committee report describes construction as “progressing well, with the building visibly taking shape on site”.

The pool area and the building’s steel structure are “effectively complete with external cladding currently being installed”.

But the completion date for construction has been pushed back to the end of December, when compared with a previous committee report – from six months earlier – which stated building works were due to finish by the end of October.

The council has said previously the new centre will include a main pool, lazy river, training pool for swimming and exercise lessons, cafe, fitness suite and ‘active space’ for community use for events and children’s parties.

In his written response to Cllr Mogford, the council leader added more than half of the project’s overall costs are being met by the Welsh and UK governments, and noted the environmental credentials of the “fit for purpose, modern and sustainable” leisure centre.

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