Kidsgrove Town Deal project: Kidsgrove Sports Centre
The Town Investment Plan for Kidsgrove has three objectives to help drive regeneration in the area.
The Kidsgrove Sports Centre project sits under objective 3 - to maximise the leisure and recreation opportunities available in Kidsgrove.
Aims
The projects in this objective have two aims:
- to provide facilities that local people want
- for residents to improve their health and wellbeing
Better access to sports and leisure opportunities will help to boost participation in sport, increase activity levels and improve health and wellbeing for Kidsgrove’s residents.
Accelerated funding
In spring 2020, the government allocated some extra funding to every town that was preparing a Town Deal. The amount depended on their population size. Kidsgrove received £750,000. Projects had to be completed by 31 March 2021. On 30 July 2020, the Town Deal Board set out how the funding should be spent and this was approved by the government on 11 August 2020.
Capital investment in health and well-being projects was prioritised to address local issues. The grant funding was used to contribute to Kidsgrove Sports Village.
Kidsgrove Sports Village
The Kidsgrove Sports Village concept aimed to provide high quality leisure facilities and health and wellbeing services across Kidsgrove.
The Town Fund accelerated funding paid for the strip out and early works at the leisure centre. This helped to speed up the redevelopment of this derelict but important public asset.
Funding was also used to improve the King’s School sports pitches. The astroturf pitch had been condemned, and the school’s grass pitches suffered from poor drainage. The accelerated funding payment addressed the funding gap. This guaranteed the delivery of leisure facilities for the local community as well as for the school.
Kidsgrove Sports Centre
Following the strip-out work, the main Town Deal funding went on the refurbishment and re-opening of the dry and wet-side facilities at Kidsgrove Sports Centre. A fully refurbished Kidsgrove Sports Centre opened its doors on 25 July 2022, following the £7.5 million transformation financed by ourselves and Town Deal funding.
The Town Deal Board and ourselves have worked closely with Kidsgrove Sports Centre Community Group, a registered charity, over the past five years to find a sustainable way of delivering premium health and fitness facilities for residents.
The major renovation, carried out by contractor Willmott Dixon, features:
- a 25 metre, six lane swimming pool with accessibility aids
- the largest sports hall in North Staffordshire
- a fully equipped gym and fitness suite together with a dance studio, spinning studio and physio area
The improvements incorporate elements such as modern flooring, heating, lighting and ventilation as well as a new roof and signs in braille.
We now own the building and have entered into a 25-year lease with the community group, enabling it to operate the high quality facilities under a community management model. Visitors can pay as they go or sign up to flexible and affordable membership packages which offer great value for regular users. To find out about the facilities on off and memberships contact the sports centre directly.
Moving forward
Although the work on the sports centre is now complete, the Town Deal Board and ourselves are still required to report on progress with all the Town Deal projects. Individual sub-groups were set up for each project to develop the business cases. The business cases had to be approved by the government before any funding was released. This was to ensure that the projects represented good value for money and could be delivered on time.