Wiltshire leisure centres back under council management

Wiltshire Council has today (1 October) brought all leisure centres previously managed by Places Leisure back under its own management.

The council will now operate 20 leisure centres across the county and will be providing a consistent service across Wiltshire. Approximately 420 staff and 11,000 members have been transferred to Wiltshire Council.

The council aims to provide a consistent service throughout its leisure centres, which will help to support and improve the physical and mental health and wellbeing of its customers, as well as trying to get more of the community active.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Leisure, said:

We're really excited to be managing all of the leisure centres and feel that this is the best possible outcome for the residents of Wiltshire.

We are now able to offer a broad range of memberships, concessionary rates and a great class and exercise programme both within our centres and on our new virtual class platform, which was not previously available to Wiltshire Council leisure members.

We are aiming to keep our offer as consistent as possible, and although some of the leisure members who will transfer over will notice some differences, our aim is for a smooth and easy transition.

It's taken a lot of hard work to get to this point, and we thank everyone for bearing with us over the transition period. We look forward to continuing to provide high-quality services and facilities across the whole of the county.

Throughout the day on 1 October, Cllr Blair-Pilling, Wiltshire Council Leader Cllr Richard Clewer, Portfolio Holder for Leisure Cllr Sven Hocking, Corporate Director for Place Sam Fox, and Director of Communities & Neighbourhood Services Jessica Gibbons, have been visiting leisure centres to welcome staff who had transferred over to Wiltshire Council.

The leisure centres that have moved from Places Leisure to Wiltshire Council management are:

• Bradford on Avon Swimming Pool
• Castle Place Leisure Centre, Trowbridge
• Lime Kiln Leisure Centre, Royal Wootton Bassett
• Leighton Recreation Centre, Westbury
• Melksham Blue Pool
• The Activity Zone, Malmesbury
• The Olympiad, Chippenham
• Trowbridge Sports Centre
• Warminster Sports Centre
• Westbury Swimming Pool

Leisure members have been contacted directly regarding their memberships and this will continue. More information, including extensive FAQs can be found at .

Individual webpages for all 20 leisure centres can be found at our Leisure and sport centres pages.