National Sports Centre to reduce gym opening hours

The Isle of Man's National Sports Centre is set to reduce the opening hours of its gym and spa facilities at weekends.

The changes, from 4 January, will see the gym and spa close three hours earlier that previously at 17:00 and 16:00 GMT respectively.

Minister for Education, Sport and Culture Daphne Caine said the reduction was an "operational" decision due to a 75% reduction in footfall during those hours.

Customers had been given a month's notice of the move and full-time contracted staff would not be effected, she said.

Other facilities, such as access to squash courts and the swimming pool would remain open until 20:00.

Caine told the House of Keys, "even with the changes" the gym was open 86 hours a week, and the spa facilities 67 hours a week, on 361 days a year.

The move was a result of an ongoing operational review by the management of the NSC, which reflected "considerably lower usage" of the two areas on both Saturday and Sunday evenings.

But Jason Moorhouse MHK said it was a "strange" decision to make the change in January, which was the time of year that "most people" would join those kinds of facilities.

Lawrie Hooper MHK asked whether consideration had been given to incentivise use of the facilities rather than reduce the hours, and Julie Edge MHK questioned whether it was a cost saving measure.

Caine said there would potentially be a "very small saving" in terms of staff costs and energy usage.

While a move to encourage more customers would be "welcomed", the facility had adjusted the hours to reflect footfall., she added.

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