Plus new roof for Putney Leisure Centre

This week Councillors approved plans to invest an extra £1m in keeping the borough’s leisure centres in top condition. At Barn Elms sports centre £200,000 will be spent on resurfacing tennis courts.

Between now and March 2017 an extra £1m will be spent on renewing the roofs of swimming pools at the leisure centres in Putney & Balaham, refurbishing the poolside walkways at the Tooting Bec Lido, enhancing water quality and safety at the Tooting leisure centre pool and replacing the sports hall roof at the Wandle Rec. And an additional £1.3m has been set aside to pay for a proposed new 3G all-weather pitch in Battersea’s Falcon Park.

Work on the new Falcon Park 3G pitch is expected to begin in the financial year commencing April 1, 2015.

The Council announced the extra money was to improve sports and leisure facilities as part of a wider package of additional capital investments worth £70m that has been approved for the period between now and the end of March 2017.

This brings the total capital spending on improving the borough’s infrastructure across all areas and all services to around £200m over the three year period ending March 2017.

The council’s finance spokesman Cllr Guy Senior said:
“These improvements will largely be met by grants we receive but we have decided to borrow a modest amount because we can do this at very advantageous rates. It is important that we continue to invest in improving and maintaining buildings like leisure centres and other infrastructure to ensure it properly meets the needs of our residents.

“We have been able to add a significant extra sum to our already extensive three year capital programme because we are a prudent council that keeps a close eye on our finances and ensures that we are able to offer our residents high quality, excellent value for money services.”

March 13, 2015