Mammoth £6.6m project to renovate Mountbatten Leisure Centre in Hilsea to begin - when and what will change?

Portsmouth City Council (PCC) is pumping £6.6m into The Mountbatten Leisure Centre in Alex Way, Hilsea. Workers will be replacing the building’s roof, making repairs to its plant equipment and carrying out essential maintenance.

Leader of PCC, Steve Pitt, said: “The original section of Mountbatten Centre's roof was built in the 1980s and the plant equipment and structure are no longer sustainable, so it's vital to carry out these works for the centre to continue to operate.

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"We're providing the funding for the works at Mountbatten Centre because we're committed to provide this much-needed health and wellbeing facility for our residents, in line with our vision for people to live healthy, happy lives”

The roof repairs are part of PCC’s capital budget and is one of the council’s four key investments. The other key areas earmarked for upgrades include Portsmouth International Port, regeneration in city centre north and transport and street environment improvements – including active travel.

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Further investment was also allocated to schools, additional spending in Children's Social Care and Adult Social Care, doubling the tree canopy across the city, the provision of grants to families on low incomes to help with the Cost-of-Living Crisis, and investment in the seafront.

The Mountbatten Centre project will be carried out in several phases by a specialist contractors. It will start in November 2023, with the sports hall being closed until the Summer of 2024 while overhead works will be carried out.

Activities in the hall will be relocated to other areas of the centre and to neighbouring locations. The leisure centres’ car park, gym, swimming pools, classes and café will be operating as usual.