Local leisure centres could benefit from national fund

Wealden District Council (WDC) has applied for the second phase of Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund – which could benefit leisure centres in Hailsham, Uckfield and Crowborough.

The application is in partnership with East Sussex County Council and its leisure operator Freedom Leisure. 

The funding, if received, would help deliver several interventions to make centres more energy efficient and to help the council meet its commitment of being carbon net zero by 2050 or sooner.

This phase of support sees £40 million of government funding being made available for local authorities to invest in improving the energy efficiency of public facilities with swimming pools in the medium to long term.

It is hoped by WDC that funding would allow the installation of PV solar, to offset grid electricity usage, and to introduce micro-infiltration systems which use reduced energy and less water than traditional sand filters.

WDC is also planning to put potential funds towards installing destratification fans to help bring down wasted warm air from the roof space to the pool side, where the heat is most needed, and to get pool covers to reduce the heat loss from the pool, in turn reducing gas consumption and associated costs for heating the pool

Should funding be received and all the interventions delivered, it is estimated that more than 178 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent could be saved every year.

A decision on whether the council is successful in its application will be made by the end of January 2024.