New leisure centre and theatre gets green light

Plans to knock down a 40-year-old leisure centre and theatre and build a £56m replacement nearby have been approved by East Renfrewshire Council.

The new centre, in Giffnock's Eastwood Park, will include an eight-lane 25-metre swimming pool, a smaller 17-metre training pool and a four-court games hall.

There will also be fitness and spin studios and a cafe, while the theatre will include a 364-seat auditorium, a smaller studio theatre, dressing rooms and bar and lounge areas.

Construction of the new complex is due to begin later this year and will be opened to the public in the second half of 2027.

The existing leisure centre and theatre will be demolished once the new facility opens.

Previous plans were approved in 2022 but the council later decided to scale back the project after rising inflation and volatile interest rates pushed the price up to about £67m.

The new scheme was submitted in October last year.

East Renfrewshire provost Mary Montague said it was "good for this to be getting to this stage now".

But she raised concerns over the "finishing colour of the building" not being "in keeping with the woodland nature of the park and the local surroundings".

Councillor Annette Ireland, an independent, said it was "not a good-looking building" and she believed a previous application had "looked fabulous".

As well as concerns over the look of the new building, parents at the nearby St Ninian's High School objected to the scheme, raising concerns over "inadequate" parking arrangements and "unsafe" vehicle access.

They said the junction into the park from Rouken Glen Road was a "notorious local bottleneck" and there would be a "prolonged" negative impact on students during construction.

Planners insisted a small uplift in both traffic and parking demand could be accommodated by the existing arrangement.

The scheme was backed by Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw who said that building the new centre on land close to the existing leisure centre would avoid the need to use a greenfield site.

After the plans were approved, a council spokesman said: "This is a significant milestone in our plans to replace facilities which are more than 40 years old and no longer fit for purpose.

"The council is committed to delivering a new leisure centre and theatre to provide much-improved amenities for local residents for generations to come."

Story by local democracy reporter Drew Sandelands.