Huncote Leisure Centre field footpaths reopen
Footpaths and fields across the rear of Huncote Leisure Centre will reopen on Wednesday 16 August.
Fencing which has cordoned off the public footpath and bridleway is being taken down allowing public access for the first time since the overall closure of the site in November 2021.
The closure came after the discovery of elevated landfill gas levels during routine maintenance works.
The Huncote Leisure Centre site sits on top of former landfill and since the closure constant monitoring and extensive remediation has taken place to reduce levels.
A significant amount of work and more than £500,000 of capital investment has taken place during the closure period to ensure the safety of the site.
Lowering of gas levels allowed the main leisure centre to open in October last year. Up until recently, gas levels have remained too high on the wider site for it to be considered safe to use.
Our specialist contractor has now confirmed these specific areas are now safe and can be reopened to the public.
The BMX tracks and the rear of the leisure centre will remain cordoned off as gas readings are still fluctuating in these areas.
The contractor is scheduled to be on site during October/November to undertake further works to the rear and sides of the leisure centre.
It is not expected these areas will reopen until this work has been completed and a period of monitoring has taken place to ensure the area can be reopened to the public.
Residents who have used the fields, footpath and bridleway in the past will notice some quite significant land movements and undulations which are from the underground waste now decomposing rapidly and the gas being actively removed.
Our Environmental Services team continues to visit the site at least twice a week to take readings and adjust the gas management system to ensure it is operating effectively.
Councillor Terry Richardson, Leader of Blaby District Council, said: "I am delighted we can now open up the fields at Huncote Leisure Centre. I know many people have missed being able to use the site for walking their dogs and enjoying a stroll so it’s great to be able to return a popular facility to the community.
"It is great to see the site returning to its former focus as a hub of sport and physical activity. We continue to monitor the area and where gas levels remain higher than we’d like we will continue our remediation works to ensure the wider site can be reopened safely.
"We appreciate this situation is frustrating for residents and user groups and closure of the site has caused some disruption. However, the health, safety and well-being of our residents is our top priority and we hope people can understand we would not want to reopen areas of land before they can be used without harm."
Councillor Terry Richardson
Leader of the Council