Newcastle Lib Dems Secure Scrutiny on £40m West Denton Leisure Centre

Lib Dem councillors have held the Newcastle Labour administration to account over the £40 million West Denton Leisure Centre, ensuring proper scrutiny after costs nearly doubled from £22.3 million in 2021 to almost £40 million today.

The project, originally due to open in summer 2024, is now expected in late 2027. Residents in the outer west have faced years without a local pool since the old facility closed in 2020 and was demolished in 2023.

Lib Dem councillor Mike Cookson said it was “important to have sought appropriate assurances that the project is on a sound financial footing” and that the use of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) money, collected from developers in the city, would not jeopardise other projects elsewhere. He added: “There are lessons to learn from this process about how the council got here, and how to guarantee the financial viability of large-scale projects when they encounter significant cost increases. We look forward to further attention to the project’s risk management at forthcoming Finance and Budget and Audit Committee meetings. Our focus has always been to seek confidence that the project will benefit residents across the whole city, and we believe that the call-in process has worked exactly as it should.”

The new leisure centre will be funded through a mix of Levelling Up Fund money, CIL contributions, Sport England, council reserves, and loans, with construction expected to start early next year.