Wiltshire Council has decided on the future of its sauna, steam room and spa pool facilities (collectively known as health suites), which are located at seven of its leisure centres.
This follows the council’s decision to temporarily close the facilities in early 2023, due to the high costs to run them, at a time when energy costs were soaring and the impact on the council's carbon footprint.
In total, it cost around £80,000 a year to operate the facilities, and in the nine months prior to closure, the open sites generated income of around £10,000. The facilities also had an impact on the council’s carbon footprint.
The council has decided to reopen the health suite facility at Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre in Salisbury on a trial basis to assess its sustainability.
It will reopen in September, and more details on the specific date, its opening hours and how people can access it will be confirmed soon.
The health suite facilities at Durrington will remain closed for the time being, with a decision made on it's future in due course, which will be fully informed by the usage and any lessons learned from the reopening of the Five Rivers facilities.
Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Public Health said: “We have thought long and hard about what to do about these facilities. They are costly to run and do have an impact on our carbon footprint, though we do recognise that some people did enjoy using them.
“Many people have got in touch with us about the Five Rivers health suite facilities and clearly it has been missed by people in the area. As it won’t be a significant cost to reinstate the facilities at Five Rivers, we think it’s a sensible option to open them up again on a trial basis, at one of our flagship leisure facilities, to see if enough people use it to make it viable. That could then help us make a more informed decision about the facilities at Durrington.
“We are in the process of working out the best way to offer these services to our customers at good value, but in a way that’s sustainable for us to run. We’ll have more information on this soon.
“We are committed to offering the best possible facilities for our residents to ensure their health and wellbeing is fully supported, and I thank people for their patience while we’ve been carrying out this important due diligence.”
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