Leisure facilities to come under council control

All leisure facilities owned by a council are due to come back under its control, a meeting has heard.

Managed facilities across Kettering, Desborough, Thrapston, Rushden and Wellingborough in Northamptonshire are currently run by Freedom Leisure and Places Leisure.

North Northamptonshire Council's Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee agreed that when the sites' contracts come up for renewal from April 2027 they will be moved to NNLeisure, its own service.

It said the decision means a plan to sell Kettering's Corn Market Hall will now be put on hold.

The facilities that would be returning to the council's own service include Kettering Swimming Pool, the Corn Market Hall, Desborough Leisure Centre, Nene Leisure Centre in Thrapston, Rushden's Pemberton Leisure Centre and Splash Leisure Pool, Redwell and Waendal Leisure Centres in Wellingborough.

In Corby, the East Midlands International Pool, Lodge Park Sports Centre, Priors Hall Golf Course and West Glebe Sports Pavilion are all already managed by the council, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The proposals mean the creche at Corby Pool will be closed, its leisure staff will be reduced by 15% and the cost of membership at the pool and sports centre would increase by £2 from April 2027, the authority said.

Kerry Purnell, the assistant director of communities and leisure, told the meeting Corby's facilities were overstaffed.

The pool's crèche was costing it tens of thousands of pounds per year, and on average six children used it each day.

"It's about realigning and aligning to make sure we're having the optimum use of the staff that we've got," she said.

Emily Fedorowycz, a Green Party councillor on the authority, said selling the Corn Market Hall when there had been no consultation was "a bad move for this council".

Purnell said there was no immediate plan to sell it and it would be run until the contract with Freedom Leisure ends in October 2027.

The council's executive is set to meet to formally approve the transition.

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