North Norfolk is set to get a new £10m leisure centre with a swimming pool and a £2.6m indoor tennis centre with a gym.
The £12.6m investment in sporting facilities was approved by North Norfolk District Council's (NNDC) Cabinet on Monday, December 4, and will now go to Full Council on December 19 for the capital funding to be agreed.
The new leisure centre will include a six-lane, 25m pool, a learner pool, splash pads, a 50-station gym, and a multi-purpose fitness studio and will be built on the Splash site in Sheringham, which will be demolished. A wave machine and flume will not be provided.
Meanwhile, the new north Norfolk community sports hub, based at the Cromer Academy and tennis club sites, will include three indoor tennis courts, changing rooms, new bar/lounge and viewing gallery, 20-station gym with an area for free weights and fitness and a studio space for fitness classes.
Other tennis courts in the district will also be improved at Fakenham, Wells and North Walsham, as per the requirements of the Sport England grant, which is partly paying for the facility.
The sports hub will be created in partnership with Cromer Academy and partly grant funded by the Lawn Tennis Association.
NNDC member for Sheringham South, Richard Shepherd said: 'The people in the area are not fussed about the loss of the wave machine at the pool. It's rarely used and horribly expensive.
'I did not initially realise how well Cromer tennis club was thought of by the LTA - but I understand it's right up there as one of the best in the country.'
NNDC hopes to sell part of the three-acre Splash site for a hotel development to pay for the improved leisure centre, which could be open to the public from October 2020.`
Judy Oliver, cabinet member for corporate assets, said the new facilities had near universal support, and John Lee, ward member for Suffield Park, said the hub was a welcome addition to Cromer and the tennis club.
The new facilities are also expected to benefit all residents' health and wellbeing in North Norfolk.
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