Reopening Salisbury Five Rivers health suite could decide future of others

Similar facilities at Durrington Leisure Centre remain closed

Author: Faye TryhornPublished 25th Jun 2024

The trial reopening of the health suite at Salisbury's Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre could decide the future of other similar facilities.

The sauna, steam room and spa pools at seven Wiltshire Council run sites have been shut since early 2023.

That was due to the high costs of running the facilities, and the effect on the authority's carbon footprints.

We're told the health suites were costing £80,000 a year to run, but only brought in £10,000 of income in the nine months prior to them closing.

But following customer demand in Salisbury, a trial reopening will take place from September.

The usage and sustainability will be assessed from them, and will help to decide whether other health suites could also operate again.

Durrington Leisure Centre is one of the sites that Wiltshire Council has similar facilities - that'll remain closed for now with a decision made in due course.

The health suite at Durrington could reopen again, if the Salisbury trial proves it's sustainable

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Public Health said:

"We have thought long and hard about what to do about these facilities. They are costly to run and do have an impact on our carbon footprint, though we do recognise that some people did enjoy using them.

"Many people have got in touch with us about the Five Rivers health suite facilities and clearly it has been missed by people in the area. As it won't be a significant cost to reinstate the facilities at Five Rivers, we think it's a sensible option to open them up again on a trial basis, at one of our flagship leisure facilities, to see if enough people use it to make it viable. That could then help us make a more informed decision about the facilities at Bradford, Devizes, Durrington and Corsham.

"We are in the process of working out the best way to offer these services to our customers at good value, but in a way that's sustainable for us to run. We'll have more information on this soon.

"We are committed to offering the best possible facilities for our residents to ensure their health and wellbeing is fully supported, and I thank people for their patience while we've been carrying out this important due diligence."

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