The improvements, which will see a substantial reduction to gas-fuel use at Exe Valley and Lords Meadow Leisure Centres, are progressing well against the completion timescale.

Since October 2022, the leisure centres in Crediton and Tiverton have been significantly affected as major works to install ground and air source heat pumps got underway. These pumps will allow both sites to move away from high-cost, fossil fuels to renewable energy sources.

As part of the installation of ground source heat pump, deep bore holes were drilled to a depth of over 200 metres beneath the leisure centre car parks, to access the heat. This has now been completed at Exe Valley, Tiverton whilst Lords Meadow, Crediton and its customers will still face disruption until the end of March.

Additional bespoke LED floodlights have also been installed on the outdoor pitches and courts, as well as solar PV at both sites utilised with the remainder of the funding available, which will further enhance leisure facilities.

Lee Chester, Operations Manager for Leisure Services, said:

“We are very proud of our leisure services, which offer residents and visitors the opportunity to reach their fitness and health goals, offering a place to keep active, stay healthy, make friends and learn new skills.

“This funding has allowed us to further improve our facilities and progress towards our Climate ambition of becoming net-zero by 2030, despite cuts in Government funding.”

The works have been enabled through £2.8 million of funding that the Council secured from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of its Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, delivered by Salix. The scheme aims to put the public sector at the forefront of decarbonising buildings in the UK.

The £2.8 million funding follows a successful bid for more than £300k in 2021 from the same scheme, which was used to replace the lighting at the Council’s three leisure centres with modern, energy efficient LED lighting.

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The Council has also secured additional funding for the existing disabled toilets at each of its leisure sites to be adapted into ‘changing places’ toilets, which will support disabled people with improved access and facilities. Read more: https://www.middevon.gov.uk/successful-funding-bid-for-accessible-toilets-at-mid-devon-leisure-centres/.