On Tuesday the New Guard at ‘Your Waverley’  will discuss possible improvements to Godalming and Farnham Leisure Centres.

This could include 35 new places in Godalming’s  gym, a second dance studio and improved changing facilities, as well as improved parking;

Here in Farnham, the children’s facilities could be improved, with a larger café and a “clip and climb” feature. The centres are run under contract and it is anticipated that the investment will be recovered by increased revenue.

“If the figures work out satisfactorily, I’m in favour of this,” said Nick Palmer who was recently elected to serve the Busbridge Ward, saying he believes it is part of the general commitment to healthy living in Waverley which should be part of the Council’s priorities.

He told residents that the current facilities are well-used and sometimes quite crowded, and the increasing population in the area will add to demand. “If it will all pay for itself within a reasonable period, it looks a win-win proposition. However, I’m not a user of the facilities myself (the phrase “lazy slug” springs to mind), so I wanted to check with residents if they believe the above improvements sound the right priorities for the centres?”

Great isn’t it. Waverley Councillors New Brooms are actually asking residents what they want, and are already regularly communicating with them, and that includes the Waverley Web.

The residents of Cranleigh are living in hope that they too are to get their promised £14m new Leisure Centre. A centre which is now showing signs of age, despite being refurbished some years ago at great expense.
This too is on Tuesday’s Agenda with a view to progressing the studies which were started under the old administration. But the scheme for a new centre in Village Way hasn’t come to the boil yet – but the new Executive is going to consider asking officers to continue to develop a detailed proposal for the centre’s renewal.