By Andrew Topping, Local Democracy Reporter
The new £8m health hub planned for Warsop could be approved by Mansfield councillors next week.
Mansfield District Council’s planning committee will discuss the plans on Monday (February 13) ahead of the major facilities being built.
The Labour-run authority is the applicant for the plans, and the new project is being part-funded through the council’s £12.3m Towns Fund pot.
If approved next week, the leisure hub would be built on part of Carr Lane Park, off Carr Lane in Market Warsop, and would feature 44 regular, four disabled and three electric car charging bays.
It would also have an 8m x 15m swimming pool with water play facilities, a gym suite and a multi-purpose hall that can be used for badminton and basketball.
The single-storey hub would also include “flexible, multi-purpose spaces that can be intensively used for a variety of activity and fitness uses”, as well as by community groups.
And it would feature a reception area, a café, a meeting and community room, a viewing area and a “generous gender-neutral changing village”.
It comes as the authority revealed it has been offered £103,967 from the Government to provide “dignified and hygienic” changing rooms at the Warsop hub.
Andy Abrahams (Lab), the district’s mayor, said on Monday (February 6): “This is another big step for the council to help us provide even more appropriate solutions for local disabled people and their families.”
The £8m hub is expected to be complete by September 2024 if planning consent is granted next week.
The authority has repeatedly said the facilities are “not a replacement” for the former Meden Sports Centre which closed in 2018.
In November, the council reiterated this stance and said the building will be “first and foremost a community building”, not a leisure centre.
The council said at the time: “The Warsop Health Hub is a fit-for-purpose centre for wellbeing that was designed based on the needs of the community.
“Following the closure of Meden Sports Centre in 2018, partner organisations have worked together to create a facility that meets the outcomes of community consultation that has taken place over recent years.
“The new facility will bring new benefits for health, wellbeing and community cohesion and we look forward to the project progressing.”
Planning documents add: “It will provide a high-quality leisure provision for the local community to encourage active participation.
“The internal and external spaces are designed to be flexible, simple and low-maintenance but also robust and attractive.”
The facilities are being part-funded through the Towns Fund cash, with about £3m of the £12.3m pot allocated for the health hub.
Between £1m and £1.5m has been requested from the Government-supported organisation Sport England.
Borrowing of up to £3.5m has also been approved, depending on the amount received from Sport England, while reserves may also be used to make up cash shortfalls.
The authority’s planning department has recommended approval for the plans next week.
