£1.7m investment in leisure facilities

North East Derbyshire District Council is injecting over £1.7m into two of its leisure centres.

The investment will focus on both Dronfield Sports Centre and Eckington Swimming Pool and further promote the council’s drive to increase participation in physical activity.

At Eckington, the plan is to extend the current health and fitness provision from 30 stations to 50 stations, creating a new gym space by removing the small pool provision and extending the current fitness suite into half of the existing small pool provision.

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There are also plans to create a new studio space for health and fitness classes, create a child-focused soft play area, update the changing areas, redesign the front of house reception and refurbish the pool plant system. Work at Eckington is due to start on October 31 and is likely to last for three months.

At Dronfield, the plan is to extend the current health and fitness provision by the creation of a new mezzanine floor above the existing fitness suite, increasing the total number of stations from 58 to 75, plus functional training facilities. There will also be a new studio space for health and fitness classes. Work at Dronfield is due to start on September 26 and is likely to last for 10 weeks,

North East Derbyshire District Council leader, Coun Graham Baxter MBE, said: “We have looked at the facilities currently available and undertaken a detailed analysis of what is popular and what is generating the most usage and income.

“There is a huge demand for health and fitness related activities and for us to be able to compete with private facilities then we must meet this demand. So we are investing in these areas to make sure our facilities are fit for purpose and fulfil what our customers want.

“With a greater public awareness of physical activity and wellbeing, we feel that investing in our facilities will help the thousands of residents who exercise in them every day.”