THE next step in delivering a much-needed new leisure centre, as well as a home to other public services, is due to be discussed by West Suffolk Council cabinet.
On Tuesday councillors will, as planned, set a final budget and decide whether the scheme is capable of meeting necessary checks before the final stage of tendering for the main construction contract goes ahead later this summer.
The scheme will replace the nearly 50-year-old leisure centre in Bury St Edmunds as part of phase one of the Western Way project.
This will be part of a new community hub which will build on the success of others in West Suffolk, such as the award-winning Mildenhall Hub. It will include in its first phase a small health and wellbeing centre, a pre-school and the West Suffolk branch of the Suffolk Archive.
In December the council agreed a reduced budget for the Western Way project to reflect a new phased approach.
Alongside the other public services, the first phase will see a state-of-the-art fun pool and soft-play alongside an eight-lane main pool, a large learner pool and sports hall, studios and a new gym delivered.
In Mildenhall, where similar facilities have been co-located, membership of the leisure centre has doubled and work with the NHS has reduced trips to the hospital for outpatient appointments.