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Winchester City Council and partners cut ribbon on new Sport & Leisure Park

A private ribbon cutting ceremony took place today (25 May 2021) at Winchester City Council’s new Sport and Leisure Park to mark its upcoming opening on Saturday 29 May. The Leader and Chief Executive of the city council, alongside operator Everyone Active, invited a handful of representatives from the organisations who have played a key part in making the centre a state-of-the art facility for local people to enjoy.

Joining the city council in taking a sneak peek ahead of the centre’s opening on Saturday 29 May at 10am, were representatives from Hampshire County Council, The University of Winchester, The Pinder Trust, LA Architecture and construction partner Willmott Dixon. The COVID-19 secure ceremony marked the completion of the centre, which was successfully built throughout the pandemic despite the enormous challenges faced by the construction industry over the last 12 months. Local residents and visitors will be welcomed to the centre at the weekend.

If you’re looking forward to seeing what the new centre has to offer, you can now book sessions in advance on the Everyone Active website or via the app: www.everyoneactive.com/centre/winchester-sport-leisure-park

 

Read Cllr Lucille Thompson's speech below:

We celebrate a landmark occasion for the district we are so proud to be here today with you all – welcome.

The magnificent building behind us opens its doors to our residents on Saturday – on time and within budget, despite all of the difficulties experienced over the past year.

A project of this scale relies on a number of organisations working together – and in this case working together against the odds. Today I would like to give thanks to our partners for their valuable contributions to this project.

We have representatives here from Hampshire County Council; LA Architecture;   Willmott Dixon; The Pinder Trust; Everyone Active; and The University of Winchester.

We thank you all for all your respective organisations have done to see the centre completed. I am sure you will enjoy seeing inside the centre this morning, it truly is breathtaking.

As the organisation behind the development, this is an important day  for Winchester City Council.

Andy Hickman our Head of Programme for this complex Major Project is here today. Andy, you Jayne Green, Mandy Ford and Graeme Todd, have lived and breathed this project from day one. Thank you all – your work will have a legacy for generations of Winchester families.

It is not just a single team who has helped at Winchester City Council...

We have seen our colleagues across the organisation put this development at the top of their lists of things to do many times –

Our Natural Environment and Recreation; Estates; Planning; Traffic and Transport; Finance; Legal and Communications teams have also made major contributions.

Former Cabinet Member, Cllr Malcom Prince worked tirelessly to deliver something that accessible and sustainable. Throughout he looked to second guess the experience of local people as they use the centre, always looking to add improvements that will make it a place that all can enjoy.

In line with our commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of the council and district, this will be one of the greenest leisure centres in the UK and has achieved BREEAM rating of excellent.

As you will see when you look around inside, the centre benefits from natural light, clever sound engineering and throughout there is a sense of space and air.

Cllr Prince – please proceed to cut the ribbon and declare the centre open.

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