Council to set up new company to manage leisure centres

From October this year, a new Council-owned health and wellbeing company will take over the management of Staffordshire Moorland’s leisure centres.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council, and it’s Strategic Alliance partner High Peak Borough Council, have agreed to establish Alliance Leisure Limited to run the centres and the services they provide from 1 October.

Councillor Matt Swindlehurst, Cabinet member for Leisure and Tourism, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity and something we have been working hard on for a while because of the importance we place on the health and wellbeing of residents.

“Providing high quality leisure facilities and opportunities for people to improve their physical and mental health is a key commitment set out in our Corporate Plan and the Move More Staffordshire Moorlands Strategy that we developed with a range of partners last year.

“Setting up this Council-controlled company will help us fulfil that commitment by having more direct involvement over the management of all three of our leisure centres, the services they provide and the wider role they play in communities across the Moorlands.

“Together with the significant investment we’re making in our leisure centres, it means we can be sure that we’re providing our communities with the services they deserve and creating more opportunities to be active.

“We all know that moving more every day is good for us mentally and physically so it’s an exciting time and I look forward to sharing more about our plans very soon – including what existing customers need to know about the new arrangements.

“Aside from the significant works at Brough Park Leisure Centre which will also start on 1 October, it’s important to know that we are keen to keep wider changes to a minimum when the transfer across to our new company happens.”

As part of our vision to invest in our leisure facilities, Brough Park Leisure Centre is set to be redeveloped to provide new pools, fitness facilities, indoor adventure/soft play and a community wellness suite. Measures to reduce carbon emissions, including air source heat pumps and solar panels, will also be included in the works.

The final plans for the new and improved Brough Park Leisure Centre are set to be revealed very soon. These include a number of design changes the Council has agreed in response to the public consultation which many local people took part in during April and May this year.

Significant work to the heating system at Biddulph Valley Leisure Centre to improve energy efficiency, and help meet the Council’s net zero carbon targets, is well underway and set to be completed by the end of the year.

The Council is also considering options for making improvements to South Moorlands Leisure centre and we have recently appointed a development partner to undertake a piece of work to assess potential areas for investment in the centre. The outcome of this work will be shared for public consultation in the future to help local people get involved in shaping these plans.