Broxtowe Council plans increase in leisure centre membership fees amid soaring costs

Some authorities say costs to heat leisure centre pools have doubled, with some bills increasing hundreds of thousands of pounds, but there are no plans to make significant operational changes.

Some other leisure companies across the UK have said pool temperatures will be dropped and opening times reduced amid soaring costs.

Better Leisure, which runs 268 leisure centres, is reducing availability until Easter after energy costs trebled compared with 2019.

No Nottinghamshire Council is planning to decrease temperatures or reduce opening hours, but Broxtowe Council is planning to increase its membership fees to make up cash gaps.

It plans a rise of about 4.9 per cent – the equivalent of £1.55 per month.

The authority says not every activity would be affected by the rise and the increase would need to be approved.

It comes in response to expected running costs at Bramcote Leisure Centre rising from £115,000 to £248,000.

The council says it does not plan to reduce the pool temperature or restrict access “at this moment in time”.

It follows a Swim England warning that more than 100 public-sector pools are under threat due to the ongoing energy crisis.

The “dire forecast” was made at the start of this month, with the body urging the Government to intervene.

“Large numbers of public-sector leisure facilities are unlikely to make it through to next spring,” it said.

A Government spokesman said its Energy Bill Relief Scheme will mean operators pay wholesale energy costs at ‘well below half expected prices’.