Council defends plans for a new £6m leisure centre in Diss

A council has defended its plans for a new £6m leisure centre in a town it says has “worst health outcomes”.

South Norfolk Council has started demolishing the old John Grose car dealership buildings in Diss to make way for the new facility.

The proposals have been met with criticism from some locals, who believe the town may be suffering from a ‘gym-vasion’ and become oversaturated with gyms.

However, the council has pointed to high childhood obesity rates in defence of the scheme and say locals have the “worst health outcomes” in the district.

Diss is already home to a recently-refurbished swim centre and two gyms, with another set to open in the coming weeks.

Representatives for Diss Heritage Trust, a local charity, have suggested the council is being “thoughtless” and said the John Grose site might be put to better use.

South Norfolk Council wants to build a two-storey leisure centre including a 55-station gym, multi-use studio, spin studio and cafe.

The scheme was launched in the same month the council reopened Diss Swim Centre following a £4m revamp.

Refurbishment of the facility, previously known as Diss Leisure Centre, resulted in the removal of its former gym area.

However, the town is still home to Diss Fit Club, Heywood Fitness Centre and will soon have a Pure Gym branch.

Kim Carsock, cabinet member for health and leisure, said: “It has been our goal for many years to improve the leisure offer in Diss.

“We have analysed the market and found there is demand for more leisure activities in the town.

“People in Diss have worse health outcomes than the rest of the district and have the highest levels of deprivation – clearly linked to poor health and sedentary lifestyles.”

The recent meeting of South Norfolk Council was told 37pc of children aged 11 to 12 in Diss are overweight or obese.

* You can subscribe to the ad-lite Diss Express premium site for just for 52p a week (27.44 a year). It also gives you access to more than 30 digital copies across the region.

There are also special offers for businesses which allow up to five users for £9.99 per month and 20 users for £19.99. Our family offers are worth a look, too.

For more information, go to www.dissexpress.co.uk/subscribe.

Use the offer code HALFPRICE to help secure your local paper’s future.