THE dream of a new leisure centre for North Devon has taken three monumental steps closer to reality, with exciting news from Sport England as the icing on the cake!

The project, led by North Devon Council’s Parks, Leisure and Culture team, will see a new eight-lane swimming pool and other leisure facilities built onto the Tarka Tennis Centre at Seven Brethren, Barnstaple.

Last week a planning application was submitted and validated, with hopes this will be determined by December.

The search for an operator to design, build, operate and maintain the new leisure facilities is now live, with details of the contract online at: www.supplyingthesouthwest.org.uk .

The closing date to register an interest and submit a response is noon on October 27, 2017.

On Thursday, September 14, Sport England confirmed that its Investment Committee is in support of the project and has formally invited the council to submit an application for funding.

This means Sport England has ring-fenced £1.5 million towards the project, and will work alongside the council to support its application for funding.

If successful, construction of the new facilities could begin in Autumn 2018 and be complete by Summer 2020.

Executive Member for Parks, Leisure and Culture, Councillor Dick Jones, says: "We may have been fairly quiet about our leisure centre project for a while, but behind the scenes a huge amount of work has been going on to drive the project forward and this is the news we’ve been waiting for from Sport England.

"I am so delighted by their decision to support our application and look forward to continuing to work with them to progress our funding bid.

"We’ve also reached two key milestones, with the planning application lodged and the contract out to tender.

"I would like to congratulate the officers for what they have achieved so far and thank them for their professionalism and continuing hard work.

"North Devon Leisure Centre is coming to the end of its useful life and we’ve got to work hard to secure this funding to provide a new pool and leisure facilities to replace it."

To keep up-to-date with the progress of this project, follow the council’s blog at: www.newleisurecentre.wordpress.com .

Alan Quick