Hartham Leisure Centre plans approved

Plans for the redevelopment of Hartham Leisure Centre were unanimously approved at last night's meeting of the council's Development Control Committee.

Despite concerns over the loss of trees and inadequate electric car charging, all twelve councillors on the committee voted in favour of  granting planning permission for the scheme.

Earlier proposals for the redevelopment of the leisure centre were panned by residents and councillors, resulting in the committee sending the plans back for review in January.

Councillor Terence Beckett described the new proposals as an "amazingly improved design" and Cllr Caroline Redfern said it was "a 100% improvement on the previous design".

The £9m redevelopment will see the leisure facility extended and improved with a brand new state of the art gym, additional studio spaces, a new café opening onto Hartham Common, a soft play facility, improved changing facilities and refurbishment of the pool hall.  

Eric Buckmaster, executive member for wellbeing at East Herts Council said, "We are delighted to be moving forward and making such a worthwhile investment and to be able to provide great facilities to support the health and wellbeing of our residents.”

"This year has shown how much the leisure industry is valued within the community and the improvements to the facility will provide future proofing for the demand. Residents can look forward to the works getting underway in the spring for a project which will provide a real asset to Hertford.” 

The next stage of the project is appointing a main contractor which will take place in March 2021 ready for construction work to commence in the spring.  Completion is scheduled for Spring 2022, following which the swimming pool will be refurbished ready for the summer season.