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Sports facilities will not be lost despite disposal notice, council says

29 Aug 2026 2 minute read

Recreation land with hockey pitches beyond at Swansea Bay Sports Park, off Mumbles Road. Image: Richard Youle

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

A council has insisted that no sporting facilities will be lost under new lease arrangements for a sports complex in south Wales.

Swansea Council is currently considering responses to a formal notice of disposal of open space at King George V playing field, off Mumbles Road in Sketty.

The notice covers the football and cricket playing field, adjacent hockey pitches and tennis courts, as well as the indoor athletics centre and pavilion to the rear, and the car park.

These facilities and the nearby Wales National Pool – together called Swansea Bay Sports Park (SBSP) – will be run by Freedom Leisure, which operates the LC and and other leisure centres on behalf of the council.

The agreement was announced this spring and will be overseen by SBSP Ltd, a not-for-profit joint venture company owned by the council and Swansea University.

Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service about the recent notice of disposal of open space, the council said it was a legal requirement and that no changes in the use of playing fields were proposed.

“They will continue as sports and recreation facilities,” said a council spokesman. “The new operational arrangements for the sports park have been developed through our established decision-making processes and approval stages. They’ll help improve the site and achieve efficient operation of it.”

He said the improvements were part of a strategy to develop a top-class international sports science park blending public investment and professional sport.

“It will mean a long-term future for the Wales National Pool, a modern St Helen’s for the Ospreys and community sport, and state-of-the-art cricket facilities in Sketty Lane,” said the spokesman.

Sketty Lane is now home to a merged Swansea and Civil Service Cricket Club and council-funded facilities there are being developed in partnership with governing body Cricket Wales.

The university meanwhile is leading the development of a new National Institute for Sport and Health hub off Sketty Lane, replacing the old pavilion by the athletics track.

The pavilion has been knocked down and contractors have started constructing the four-storey building, which is designed to promote elite and community sport, improve people’s wider health and generate jobs.

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