Northumberland County Council has announced that the new £21m leisure centre and community hub is still on track for opening in early 2023.

The new centre will include a number of eco-friendly measures to reduce the environmental impact and running costs and is expected to run with a 69.7% carbon emission reduction per year.

Once complete the leisure centre will have a six-lane swimming pool with spectator gallery, a learner pool, spa facilities, a four-court sports hall, a new 100-station gym, a dedicated spinning studio, two fitness studios, a café area and soft play.

A new community hub will be incorporated into the building, which will see the library move back to its former site, with a customer service centre and a new adult learning facility with classrooms for STEM learning and catering.

Councillor Jeff Watson, Cabinet Member for Healthy Lives, said: “Sports centres incorporate an extensive array of energy intensive facilities, including electrical fitness equipment and swimming pools. In addition, there are the day-to-day lighting, heating and ventilation demands of the property, combined with long opening hours.

Consequently, the energy consumption and costs of sports and leisure centres can be considerable.

Now more than ever, we need to increase energy efficiency and the measures we are putting in place during the construction of this new centre will help to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions and are another step towards the council’s ambitious plans to be carbon net zero by 2030.”

Morpeth North County Councillor David Bawn said: “The new, modern centre will boast a range of energy efficient technologies that will reduce energy bills and keep costs down, putting the centre on a strong financial footing for the future.”