Suffolk Coastal District Council has begun its programme of work on reonovating Deben Pool.

The project to reinvent the building is set to cost over £3 million as part of Suffolk Coastal’s plans to invest in its leisure centres to encourage more people to become fit and active.

Deben Pool closed on 31 August and work began on Monday 4 September for a 10 month period to transform the facility into a state-of-the-art leisure centre.

The new leisure centre has been designed with the Council’s leisure development partner, Pulse Fitness and operators Places for People Leisure and includes a new, spacious gym, featuring modern equipment and the pool area will feature a new health suite with a steam room, sauna and ice room.

The plans also include the addition of a new floor to be added to the front of the building, with purpose built family changing areas and separate changing facilities for use by schools and the provision of two studios, one to incorporate a spin room and the other for fitness classes, which will also be available for community hire.

Suffolk Coastal’s investment of £2.5 million in the new leisure centre has been boosted by £500,000 in Sport England National Lottery Funding.

The work to develop the leisure centre is part of the Council’s five year programme to improve leisure facilities for the district and to encourage more people to become more active. 

All current members at Deben have now been contacted by Places for People Leisure regarding their membership during the closure period.

The full closure of Deben means that during this time our operators, Places for People Leisure will be relocating as many staff as possible. The new facility opening next summer will create more job opportunities, with people being recruited 2-3 months prior to opening.

During the refurbishment work there will be some loss of car parking, reducing by 27 spaces (23 in front of the Community Hall and 4 spaces elsewhere in Station Road car park) and there will be no access to the front and left-hand side of the leisure centre.

We have been working with nearby businesses to minimise any disruption. During the closure the Community Hall will be remain open as usual and access to the skatepark is not affected.

Cllr TJ Haworth-culf, cabinet member for Customers, Communities and Leisure, said: “The new and improved leisure centre is set to reopen next summer and will offer the whole community modern facilities and the latest equipment, that come at no additional cost to the tax payer.

“We would like to thank members of Deben Pool for their support for the redevelopment so far. During the closure, members and visitors can use our other facilities at Leiston, Felixstowe and Brackenbury.

“A key part of our Business Plan focuses on increasing access to quality leisure facilities and activities as part of our commitment to getting more people fit and active. We hope Deben will be the ignition for our complete leisure redevelopment to create facilities our communities can be truly proud of.”

Background Information:

One of Suffolk Coastal’s 10 priorities in its Business Plan focuses on the need to provide high-quality, modern leisure centres that the whole community can enjoy, with state-of-the-art equipment, that come at no additional cost to the tax payer.

The work builds on the progress made by the Leisure Strategy formed in 2014, which sets out how improvements to the leisure provision will be made across the district, over the next 10 years.

A five year programme is now being launched, with Deben Leisure Centre as the first facility to be upgraded, followed by Leiston and then Felixstowe.

Suffolk Coastal is working closely with its operational leisure partners, Places for People Leisure, to ensure that disruption is kept to a minimum and existing users receive regular communications and updates.