Changing facilities at Leisure at Cheltenham are to close temporarily to enable remedial work to be carried out as part of the third phase of the RAAC repair work. An alternative changing village will be created with temporary portable cabins sited in the car park for customers to use while the work is carried out in May.

The Cheltenham Trust, which manages the centre, and Cheltenham Borough Council, the owner of the building, have issued the update to customers, members and users on the latest phase of the RAAC repair work which began in January 2024.

Specialist contractors have completed structural repairs to the ceilings above the teaching pool and splash pad which re-opened recently. RAAC (re-enforced autoclaved aerated concrete) has been identified in the ceiling panels in the changing village and requires some remedial works to be undertaken. Work will begin the week commencing May 20 to reinforce these areas and is expected to take around 11 weeks to complete.

To minimise disruption, and to enable customers to continue to use the centre’s facilities while the work is carried out, the temporary changing village will be installed, with changing facilities, including showers, toilets and facilities for accessible users and visitors.

Signs will be displayed throughout the centre directing users to the outdoor changing village, via a one-way route. When the village is installed, a directional video will be available to ensure users are aware of the new arrangements and how to access the temporary changing village.

Detailed FAQs have been produced by the trust and can be found at www.leisure@cheltenham.com

Note to editors:

RAAC was widely used in the construction of thousands of publicly owned buildings from the 1950s to the 1990s, such as schools, hospitals and leisure centres. With a limited lifespan of around 30 years, buildings with RAAC began to show failures in the 1980s.