Sports centres to undergo eco-friendly improvements

Four leisure centres and sports pavilions are set to undergo eco-friendly enhancement works worth a combined £1.1m.

The funding will be used to help decarbonise Spiceball and Woodgreen leisure centres and North Oxfordshire Academy sports pavilion, all in Banbury, as well as Stratfield Brake pavilion, in Kidlington.

Cherwell District Council said it secured money for the improvements through the government's Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS).

The authority said the works would save 234 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year – the equivalent of driving a car for more than 820,000 miles (1.3m km).

Improvements will include replacing fossil fuel-based heating systems with low-carbon alternatives, such as heat pumps.

Other upgrades, including insulation improvements, will also be carried out.

Tom Beckett, the council's greener communities chief, said the authority was "committed to addressing climate change head-on".

"While we've invested before in decarbonisation measures at our leisure centres, there's still more to be done to reach our carbon net zero ambitions," he said.

"This [funding] will allow residents' trips to the gym or swimming pool to feel both good for personal health and planetary health."

The majority of the works are expected to be completed by March 2026, in line with the council's goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

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