Opening date confirmed for North Bridge Leisure Centre

All the borough's centres closed in March 2020, in line with Government guidance to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Since then, Calderdale Council has been working on plans for the safe, phased reopening of its sports and leisure facilities.

Sites in Brighouse, Sowerby Bridge and Todmorden recently reopened and lessons learnt from these sites will be used to safely reopen North Bridge Leisure Centre on Wednesday October 14

Strict safety measures will be in place and the number of customers allowed in the building at any one time will be significantly reduced to enable social distancing.

There will be fewer classes and some activities will be limited to ensure the safety of staff and customers.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Public Services and Communities, CouncillorSusan Press, said “We’ve now successfully reopened three of our leisure facilities and we’ve had amazing feedback from customers about their experiences, with many complimenting the safety measures we’ve put in place.

“The challenging layout of North Bridge Leisure Centre made the installation of COVID safety measures more difficult. However, using the experience from the opening of our other sites, we’re now confident that a safe solution has been found and we look forward to welcoming customers back in October.

“There are additional challenges to reopening Halifax Pool, but we’re actively looking for solutions and will notify customers of any changes.

“We know that many of our sports members have really missed our facilities and are eager to return. Whilst we’re excited to welcome more customers back, it’s also important that the safety measures in place are respected and we all continue to do our bit to protect each other.”

To manage customer numbers and help with COVID-19 contact tracing, people must pre-book to use the facilities. Bookings can be made online or over the phone, and customer data will be stored securely as part of the Test and Trace service.

There will be signs and floor markings throughout each centre to help with social distancing, as well as hand sanitisation units around the buildings and protective screens in reception areas.

Additional cleaning will also take place to ensure the buildings and equipment are regularly sanitised and available for use.