Southall Sports Centre is located on the site of Southall Community College, part of the West London College group. All the buildings including the sports centre are owned by West London College.
The council and its leisure operator, Everyone Active, has been managing and operating the sports centre since it opened in 2007 to facilitate community access to the facilities under a community use agreement.
In October 2021 West London College issued notice to Ealing Council to vacate the building by 1 April 2022 to facilitate the college’s plans to convert the sports centre building into a construction academy. This followed receipt of a letter sent by the college to the council in May 2021 which included the first formal reference to any plans to change the use of the sports centre.
Communication
Since becoming aware of the intention of West London College to convert the premises, the council and its leisure operator has worked with partners to mitigate any loss of access for customers, clubs and groups, and provide alternative activities and facilities. This includes the proposal to develop a new women-only gym and group exercise programme at Dormers Wells Leisure Centre.
During this period steps have been taken to ensure that those who use the sports centre have been made aware of the plans. This includes face to face communication with all registered individual users, clubs and organisations, discussions over the phone and email, and posters displayed at the centre.
Relocation of activities and facilities
The council and its leisure operator have developed a proposal to provide a new women only gym facility on the unused area of land in front of Dormers Wells Leisure Centre. The council has recently secured funding for the construction of the new facility and the outcome of the planning application is anticipated before the end of April 2022. Pending a successful outcome, the new modular facility will be ordered. It currently has a lead in time of 10 weeks.
Following negotiations with Dormers Wells High School, a full daytime programme of classes will go live between April and June 2022, and access to the studio with be provided during morning hours in the leisure centre. Furthermore, all evening and weekend classes currently on offer at Southall Sports Centre go live at Dormers Wells from April 2022.
All pay and play, direct debit and annual payment customers have been offered the option to transfer to either Dormers Wells Leisure Centre or other local sports centres.
Customers who used the women only gym have been offered the option to transfer to the women only gym at Acton while the Dormers Wells women only gym is developed.
All customers, groups and clubs who wished to transfer to other Ealing sports centres have been accommodated.
As well as local facilities at Dormers Wells Leisure Centre, Featherstone Sports Centre offers:
- Gym
- 2 group exercise studios
- 5 court sports halls with cricket lanes
- Climbing wall
- 2 outdoor floodlit tennis courts
- 1 full floodlit sand based AGP.
For full details of the Featherstone offer visit their website.
Let’s Go Southall
Southall is also the focus for investment and activity through Let’s Go Southall which delivers:
- 45 weekly group exercise classes in community settings, some of which are women only
- A coaching service for residents in Southall with type 2 diabetes is a joint initiative with Let’s Go Southall. Further information is available at: Diabetes Health and Wellness Coaching Service
- A £500,000 investment in free to use outdoor gyms in four of Southall's parks.
If you want to try a new activity, find out more at Let's Go Southall
Recent investment in local facilities
The council has recently invested £600,000 in creating a cricket ground at Durdan's Park which will come into use this summer, and Southall Park has had cricket nets installed and a tennis court refurbishment.
There is also a commitment to invest over £150,000 to improve local community facilities for children and young people in Spencer Street. The basketball and multi-use games court has sadly reached the end of its usable life and will be replaced in its entirety with new fencing, sports surfacing and basketball and multi-sport goal ends. Additionally, the popular playground will receive new safety surfacing throughout; a new trim trail for all to enjoy and play equipment to replace the equipment which again has now reached the end of its lifecycle.