Wiltshire Council confirms Marlborough Leisure Centre improvements 

 Wiltshire Council's investment in leisure facilities continues as it confirms significant improvements to Marlborough Leisure Centre.

Wiltshire Council has confirmed that its fitness facilities and wet change at Marlborough Leisure Centre will soon be getting improvements.

The work is expected to get underway later this year, and includes:

• Carrying out improvements and an extension to the fitness suite which will include new equipment and improving ventilation and air conditioning to create a spacious, modern environment. A consultation room will also be created.
• Total refurbishment of wet change which will increase the size of the changing facility. This includes new fixtures and fittings throughout making this area more accessible, family changing cubicles and group changing.
• A Changing Places facility will also be installed, which will particularly benefit anyone with who is limited in their mobility and have complex needs as it helps them to get out and about and enjoy day-to-day activities.

Construction work at Marlborough Leisure Centre to make these improvements is expected to get underway later this year and Wiltshire Council will confirm specific timescales as soon as it's able to.

Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure, said: I'm delighted to confirm yet more improvements to a Wiltshire Council leisure centre.

As well as being financially viable, it's vital that our centres are also community focussed and their health and wellbeing is at the heart of the changes we're making.

Ensuring the fitness suite at Marlborough is fit-for-purpose and modern, providing the best opportunities for those who use it, will ensure we reach much more of the community with our facilities. The wet change improvements will also provide more accessibility and much better facilities for those who use them, including local schools. Creating a Changes Places facility will also ensure people with mobility issues and more complex needs can access the services and help support them to get out and about.

The improvements we are bringing forward are well thought out, using all the information we have at our disposal, and will increase the overall fitness opportunities available, benefiting the health and wellbeing of more people.

In order for the improvements to be made, and to ensure the centre is used by as much of the community as possible, there will be some changes to existing facilities, such as squash, the health suite, and soft play.

Squash

The improvements the council is making to the fitness suite will result in the permanent removal of the squash courts, one of which was already being used for soft play. The council needs to ensure the leisure centre is used by as wide a variety of the community as possible. The small number of people that play at the Marlborough court is ultimately not enough to make it viable to maintain for the long-term at the centre.

However, there are alternative squash facilities in the town at Marlborough College and the college has confirmed to the council they are happy for people to contact them about this for more information. They can contact jhb@marlboroughcollege.org (opens new window). There are also nearby council-run squash facilities at Pewsey that people are welcome to use.

Health suite

The significant improvements the council has outlined will result in the permanent closure of the health suite at the leisure centre. The steam room at Marlborough has not been in use since before the pandemic. In early 2023 the council temporarily closed the other health suite facilities in its leisure centres across the county. These facilities are expensive to maintain and run, and they also have an impact on the council's carbon footprint. Permanently closing the facilities at Marlborough will allow the council to incorporate the space into the wet change and create a much bigger changing area, ensuring the council can meet the health needs of more of the local community. As mentioned, a Changing Places facility will also be installed. The council will be confirming the future of its other health suites across the county imminently.

Soft play 

The council will be upgrading the soft play equipment, but it won't be permanently available as it is now. The council has looked at the current usage of this facility and will be running this service slightly differently when these improvements are made. Rather than having the soft play equipment permanently available to use in the centre for people to drop-in and visit, the council will be facilitating a number of programmed soft play sessions for families to enjoy. With new soft play equipment and a fresh approach to running these facilities the council anticipates it will result in more people getting the most out of them, and in bringing different families and children together in these types of sessions it could have social benefits.

More information on timescales for the Marlborough works will be shared in due course.