Deepings Leisure Centre faces demolition
It's after the community group attempting to save it said it could not proceed with its reopening plans
A council is in talks about demolishing the Deepings Leisure Centre after the community group attempting to save it announced it could not proceed with its reopening plans.
The leisure centre closed in July 2021 due to a faulty roof that posed health and safety risks. Since then, a community group made up of residents has been working to renovate and reopen the facility on Park Road.
However, discussions between the Deepings Leisure Centre Community Interest Company (CIC) and Anthem Schools Trust broke down, leading to Lincolnshire County Council, which owns the asset, to consider its next steps.
Following a full council meeting today (Friday, February 21), Coun Richard Butroid (Conservative), portfolio holder for people management, complaints, legal, and corporate property, said: “We had a meeting with the Anthem Trust, the CIC, and South Kesteven District Council this week.
“It was clear that there is a disagreement, or they can’t come to an agreement, over the occupation of the leisure centre in terms of who would have it and when.
“The school needed it at certain times, whereas the CIC needed access to generate enough income to make it viable, and the two did not seem compatible.
“With government funding also being withdrawn, it is a case of the sums just not adding up.”
Lincolnshire County Council agreed to transfer ownership of the leisure centre in May 2024, but the transfer was never completed as the CIC could not raise the full amount required.
Virginia Moran, an independent South Kesteven District Councillor and CIC director, previously stated that £2.4 million was needed for the project, with £1.7 million required by August 2024.
The remainder was expected to come from the government’s Community Ownership Fund, but this was closed entirely in early December.
“We’re left in a place now where we’ve got a leisure centre, it’s in poor condition, we’re going to have to take a decision to demolish it,” added Coun Butroid.
“Whether that’s done by Lincolnshire County Council or we give the money to the Anthem Trust, which is what we’re proposing to do at the moment, for them to do the works that fit into a timescale with the school, that’s the negotiations we’ll be having over the next few weeks.
“Lincolnshire County Council has been very clear, we don’t run leisure centres, we don’t want the responsibility of the leisure centre, and we need to get the lease signed by Anthem Trust. We’ve come to the end of the road, sadly.”
Although still upset about the situation, Virginia didn’t want to rule out the possibility of a new space opening, vowing to keep the CIC dormant for the time being.
“You never know, in a couple of years’ time, funds may be made available from government,” she said.
Coun Ashley Baxter (Independent), leader of South Kesteven District Council, said he was “absolutely heartbroken” at the news.
He added: “I have been using the leisure centre since I arrived in the Deepings.
“I feel desperately disappointed for everyone involved in the swim club—the kids, the coaches, the parents, everyone—it’s heartbreaking. But also for the people of the Deepings who need swimming, who need exercise, who cannot afford to join a commercial gym and do not have a car to go to Peterborough for other gyms.
“There are fee-paying gyms in the Deepings, but that is not meeting the needs of families and kids.
“How is it that, more than 50 years ago, local authorities could afford to build leisure centres for towns that are much smaller, and now we can’t? It’s an absolute disgrace.”