News

We have been awarded £630,000 from the Swimming Pool Support Fund (Phase II).

The funding will enable the installation of 720 solar panels at Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre. Once installed the solar panels are estimated to generate 360kWh of renewal energy, which will help reduce the carbon footprint of the facility, in line with our climate emergency declaration, and enable an estimated 324,120 kWh reduction in electricity consumption per year.

More than 300 public swimming pools across England will receive a share of £60 million from the Government and Sport England funding to improve their energy efficiency and keep running costs down.

James Doe, our Strategic Director (Place), said: “We are delighted to have received funding from Phase II of the Swimming Pool Support Fund. Securing this funding to make Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre more energy efficient is fantastic news and is another significant step towards us meeting our net-zero ambitions.

“We know older buildings are among the most challenging to reduce energy consumption so it's important we do everything we can to cut their carbon emissions as quickly as possible.

“This grant will also support our partner Everyone Active to continue to provide public swimming, positively contributing to residents’ health and wellbeing as well as providing a place for local school children to learn to swim."

Steve Cox, Everyone Active Area Contract Manager, said: “We are delighted the Council has been successful in Phase II of the funding and it is great news that this project will further reduce the centre’s carbon footprint. 

“As a result of the energy crisis, we have seen our energy bills more than double. The implementation of the solar panels at the leisure centre marks a significant step towards reducing our carbon footprint and simultaneously lowering energy costs. Everyone Active is proud to work alongside the Council to help achieve our company’s net-zero ambitions.”