Westmorland and Furness Council has received a funding grant of £330,718 from Phase 2 of Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund to make Appleby and Penrith Leisure Centres more energy efficient and sustainable.
As part of decarbonisation plans, £164,987 will be invested at Appleby Leisure Centre and a further £165,731 at Penrith Leisure Centre to make a number of energy saving improvements. Both centres will see further photovoltaic (solar) panels installed in addition to those currently in place, additional pipework insulation and pool hall windows upgraded to triple glazing. Appleby Leisure Centre will also see upgrades made to its roofing insulation and an automatic door closer installed. These planned energy saving measures would bring estimated lifetime carbon savings of 1625 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (TCO2e). This saving would be the equivalent of taking over 460 long haul flights from London to Hong Kong.
The announcement follows the successful bid to Phase 1 of the Sport England Fund, which saw £235,000 awarded to Barrow Park Leisure Centre to help with rising energy, maintenance and chemical costs.
The council worked closely with local consultants and partners on all three bids and were up against stiff competition, with over 700 applications received and a total funding ask four times greater than what was available.
Assistant Director for Community Infrastructure, David Haughian, said:
“Securing funding for energy saving improvements in our leisure centres is not just about reducing costs, it reinforces our commitment to sustainability and acknowledges the importance of leisure provision locally.
“Leisure centres are key to helping our communities keep healthy, active and well, and with the rise in energy costs affecting us all, by making these improvements, we’ll be able to mitigate some of these costs, reduce our carbon emissions, and ensure we provide an improved provision for the long-term.
“Collaborative working with our local and national partners has ensured the success of our applications for funding and I look forward to seeing works getting underway to improve these local facilities.”