PFI New Leaf leisure centres

The council is currently developing two new leisure centres, at Morley and Armley, through a bid for £30m of government Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits.

This page will keep you up to date as the project develops, with news on which sites are chosen and why, and summaries of questions and feedback from public consultation.

Latest news
What is the New Leaf PFI project?
How to have your say
Plans and drawings
Views and opinions
Aiming for higher standards
Any questions?

Wednesday 11th June: Relocation Information
A leaflet advising current leisure centre customers of alternative facilities after the closure of Morley is available to downloaded in PDF format on the right of this page.

29th May 2008: Morley leisure centre is to officially close on July 6th
The current centre will close to the public on Sunday July 6 th before work is undertaken to prepare the building for contractors Interserve Project Services Limited.

The contractors will move into the centre in the final week of July to carry out assessments and then work to demolish the building is expected to begin shortly after.

Download: Press release - 29th April 2008

2nd May 2008: Public Invite to discuss new £30million leisure centre plans.
Two public drop-in sessions were held this week to discuss the next stage of the project to build two new leisure centres in Leeds.

Full planning applications for the new centre's at Armley and Morley have now been submitted. Further plans are on display at the leisure centres.

Download: Artist's impression of the new site at Armley

Download: Artist's impression of the new site at Morley

Download: Proposed outline plans for Armley and Morley new leaf leisure centres

Back to top

What is the New Leaf PFI project?
The Council is currently developing two new leisure centres through a bid for £30m of Government Private Finance Initiative credits (PFI).

The schedule sees construction starting in 2008, following extensive planning and consultation. New centres would open in 2010.

The areas in the city to be developed are Morley and Armley. These areas were chosen along with East Leeds following an extensive options appraisal by the council. The government has agreed to support Armley and Morley centres and may reconsider an East Leeds bid in the future.

Consultation with the Leeds Primary Care Trust (PCT), Education Leeds, Social Services, user groups at the current sites, schools, facility managers and sports development officers has developed the proposed facility mix for each site to include:

25m pool,
small pool,
sports halls,
flexible second sports hall / socialising space
meeting rooms,
Bodyline Gym,
teaching space and
therapy facilities (e.g. hydrotherapy)

The council is currently consulting on how these facilities are made available at each chosen site.

The new centres will form Community Sports Hubs, working with schools, PCT, Social Services, the extended schools programme and the local community to improve general health and well being for local people.

The council will consult with the public at all stages of the project.

Working Groups
A number of groups in the local community have a special interest in the centres and representatives have been invited to join a working group with council officers and others to make sure that a wide range of views are put forward. The group will meet regularly as the project develops. The group will see all the comments from the public workshops as well as other feedback we receive.

Link: Working group minutes and discussion papers

Displays in the leisure centres.
We will provide updated information in the main reception area at the centres along with comment cards for you to use.

This website.
We will update this website with information from the project and feedback from the consultation process. You can also email your questions or comments to newleaf@leeds.gov.uk

Leeds communities online forum.
You can take part in an online discussion about the leisure centre developments. We will be providing the Leeds Communities website with information to use on its community news pages. Click on the link to the Armley and Morley forums below.

Armley discussion forum
Morley discussion forum

The latest design plans for the new Armley and Morley leisure centres have been produced by the architects taking into account all the responses from the public as well as the feedback from the working groups, stakeholders and Leeds City Council officers.

Apart from the artists’ impressions of how the outside of the centres will look, there are also internal images taken from similar projects, such as Killingworth leisure centre in Newcastle.

Although the facility mix of the building is now fixed, the layout of how certain areas such as how changing facilities will look are still to be discussed, along with the positioning and types of internal fittings.

We would like you to look at the plans and tell us what you think. Your views are very important in helping us provide the best new leisure centre we can, so please take a moment to have a look at the design.

You can then give us your thoughts or any questions you may have by contacting Helen Evans, Sport PFI Manager, on 0113 2243184 or e-mail newleaf@leeds.gov.uk

Download: Proposed outline plans for Armley and Morley new leaf leisure centres
Download: Press release - January 22nd 2008

We believe that it’s important for everyone to see the wide range of views and opinions about this project and to understand some of the planning, technical and environmental issues too. In this section we will provide summaries of feedback from the consultation process, and other information which will help you understand how decisions on the project are reached.

Working Groups.
Click on the links below to download minutes and discussion papers from the working groups.

Armley Group:
Download:  Terms of reference
Download:  6th December 2006 minutes
Download:  18th January 2007 minutes
Download:  Comments on new John Smeaton centre
Download:  27th February 2007 minutes
Download:  17th April 2007 minutes
Download:  25th September 2007 minutes
Download:  15th January 2008 minutes

Morley Group:
Download:  Terms of reference
Download:  4th December minutes
Download:  Site location issues
Download:  15th January 2007 minutes
Download:  Comments on new John Smeaton centre
Download:  26th February 2007 minutes
Download:  16th April 2007 minutes
Download:  24th September 2007 minutes
Download:  14th January 2008 minutes

Public and staff workshops November 2006. Around 150 people have now taken part in workshops to inform the PFI centre developments. Staff and users listed their hopes and fears, and their views on what type of facilities should be available.

Armley public workshop - summary of comments
Armley staff workshop - summary of comments
Morley public workshop - summary of comments
Morley staff workshops - summary of comments

Public meetings June 2006. These early consultations raised a number of issues and as a result the options were reviewed and changed. Please follow the links below to see summaries of the points raised at the meetings:

Armley public meeting - June 2006
Morley public meeting - June 2006
East Leeds public meeting - June 2006

New Leaf newsletter
Please click on the link below to see the latest New Leaf newsletter bringing you up to date with the project so far.

Download: project newsletter issue 2

The council has recently completed a £5m project to improve John Smeaton leisure centre, with funding from the Big Lottery Fund. We have raised standards throughout the building improving access, creating better changing areas and providing more space to relax. These are the standards we shall be aiming for with the New Leaf PFI centres, so have a look at the John Smeaton pictures below to see what should be in store.

The New Leaf PFI schemes are creating lots of interest. If you have a question, please check our latest list of FAQs by clicking the link at the bottom of this section.

If your question is not there, or you need more information, please email us and we’ll do our best to give you an answer.

Download: Frequently asked questions sheet

email: newleaf@leeds.gov.uk