Freedom Leisure announced as new operator of Tenterden Leisure Centre

Ashford Borough Council is pleased to announce that Freedom Leisure will be operating Tenterden Leisure Centre from 1 May 2023.

Freedom is working closely with the current operator, Serco, on an operational handover and all customers will be contacted with details about their memberships and bookings.

The gym, sports hall and group exercise studios will all be open on 1 May 2023, and an opening date for the swimming pool will be announced shortly. This is due to Freedom needing to recruit and train the necessary lifeguards to operate the pool.

It should be noted that due to essential electrical works Tenterden Leisure Centre will be closed between 8am and 4pm on Wednesday 26 April. In addition to enable an effective handover between operators the centre will close for a short period of time from 12pm on Sunday 30 April and will re-open at 8am on Monday 1 May.

Tenterden Leisure Trust (TLT) commenced negotiations with Ashford Borough Council to relinquish the lease of Tenterden Leisure Centre in March. Since then, the council has been working with TLT and operator Serco to enable as smooth a transition as possible.

As landlord, the council has committed to capital works for the building to improve the structure and ensure sustainability for the leisure facilities in the future and this included a new roof, a new air handling unit, a new pool filtration system and switchgear.

Further works are committed over the coming months as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) which include an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) and Photovoltaic (PV) panels.

Jo Fox, the council’s Assistant Director of Environment, Property & Recreation, said: “We know how vital leisure facilities are at Tenterden Leisure Centre for our residents’ health and wellbeing and know there has been frustration that not all the facilities have been available.

“The council has invested significant money into improving the facilities on offer, now and in the future, showing our long-term commitment to providing leisure facilities for residents of Tenterden and the surrounding area.

“Ashford Borough Council wants to see the full set of facilities at Tenterden Leisure Centre re-open as soon as possible, including the swimming pool, and we will provide further updates over the coming weeks.”

Tenterden Leisure Centre will be incorporated into Freedom’s existing leisure contract for an interim two year period, before Ashford Borough Council undertakes a full procurement process to appoint long term operator of the centre.

Freedom Leisure Chief Executive Ivan Horsfall Turner said: “We are delighted to be managing this well-loved facility in Tenterden on behalf of Ashford Borough Council. Together with the existing leisure centre team, we will fulfil our promise to ‘improve lives through leisure’ in Tenterden as we have at the nearby facilities in Ashford.”

Ashford Borough Council would like to thank Tenterden Leisure Trust, Serco and Freedom Leisure for helping us with this transition.