Plans announced for £27 million leisure project in Manchester

Forming part of a £27 million investment strategy Manchester will see the construction of three state of the art leisure centres.

This October will see the opening of the much anticipated East Manchester Leisure Centre in Beswick. The facility will compliment Connell College and the City Football Academy.

Work is also underway on a brand new leisure complex at Hough End that will be completed in spring 2015.

And construction on Levenshulme’s new leisure facility is expected to start this November and be completed in autumn 2015.

The way Manchester leisure centres are operated is also changing as Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) has been awarded the contract to run them.

The not-for-profit company has more than 20 years experience of running leisure centres and the change in management will see increases in the number of activities on offer for the community and improvements in the quality of service.

Councillor Rosa Battle, Manchester City Council executive member for culture and leisure, said: “We are committed to providing local residents with the best leisure facilities possible and the creation of these three new leisure centres will mean local people have access to facilities fit for the 21 Century.

“Changes to the way the leisure services are operated will also enable us to improve performance further and increase the number of people using our centres.

“Greenwich Leisure Limited has innovative and exciting plans to boost participation rates, employ local people, increase volunteering and create apprenticeships. At the same time their proposal will save the council almost £400,000 a year without compromising the quality of service.

“Integral to our choice of GLL is their commitment to working with us to help tackle health inequality across the city by reaching out to local communities.

“In a climate where budgets are tight we believe the investment in new facilities, along with the change in leisure provider offers the best deal for Manchester.”

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