Larkhall Leisure Centre has been a project and campaign for the Partnership for many years.
Residents told us in the survey it was a major priority for them. The leisure centre was built in the 1960’s and the town desperately needs a new one.
The proposed design for the leisure centre fell short of the communities’ expectations. Originally, the design didn’t include a games hall, but with our discussions with the South Lanarkshire Council this was upgraded to one games hall.
However, this meant a downgrade from the current large games hall which was worrying for the groups that use it for sport and exercise.
The Partnership have worked closely and constructively with the Council and helped them with their community engagement.
By the end of 2024, we felt that time was running out to secure a fit for purpose leisure centre that would boost the health and wellbeing of the growing town for future generations.
In January 2025, the Partnership launched a renewed campaign, led by Larkhall Community Council, to make sure the views of residents were heard by South Lanarkshire Council. This included an online petition and an email template we encouraged residents to send to Council leader Joe Fagan urging additional funding for the new leisure centre.
During the campaign we reached nearly 130,000 people on our Facebook, gathered 2,000 petition signatures, and at least 113 emails were sent to Joe Fagan using our template.
In the Council budget in February 2025, it was confirmed that additional funding was being made available to deliver a new leisure centre for Larkhall that residents need.
The Partnership is now working with the Council on the new design to ensure it has the facilities the town needs.
Work is due to start on the new leisure centre in June 2026. Demolition of part of the existing building is necessary to accommodate the increased size of the new one.
Part of the games hall has been made available for lighter activities which will help alleviate loss of space due to demolition. We await an opening date for the new entrance to the high school sports accommodation, which will help fill the gap in the evening and weekends until the new centre is completed in 2028.