Arun Leisure Centre and Littlehampton Wave reveal plans for ‘new normal’ ahead of reopening

Arun District Council and operators Freedom Leisure are in the process of making Arun Leisure Centre in Felpham Way, Bognor Regis and the Littlehampton Wave in Sea Road, Littlehampton, ready for customers again when they reopen on July 25.

Here are some of the changes:

• Hand sanitiser units

• Social distancing markers

• Screens

• One-way systems

• Restricted access to changing rooms

• Booking arrangements

• Additional cleansing measures, including a deep clean prior to reopening and extra cleaning regimes throughout the day,

including all contact surfaces and toilets being frequently disinfected

Changes have been made to activity programmes with the introduction of compulsory booking systems to limit numbers to keep to social distancing requirements and to ensure there is enough time between classes to maintain

cleanliness.

There will be timed sessions available to book for the gym and group exercise classes, as well as for swimming sessions at pools in both centres.

The new programme of classes and swimming timetables will be available on their websites soon.

To support the ‘track and trace’ scheme customers will be asked to provide contact details before their activity.

Arun District Council has covered the cost of the upkeep of the leisure centres during the period of closure due to Covid-19, and recently decided to ‘continue to support leisure and cultural services affected by the pandemic’, the council said.

Councillor Gill Yeates, Arun District Council’s cabinet member for community wellbeing said: “We welcome the government news that our leisure centres can now reopen from 25 July. They are vital to the health and wellbeing of our community and we are working with our operators, Freedom Leisure, to ensure that the council-run leisure centres in the district are fully Covid-secure and ready to welcome customers once more.”

Ivan Horsfall-Turner, managing director of Freedom Leisure, said: “Freedom Leisure is delighted to be reopening Arun Leisure Centre and

Littlehampton Wave on Saturday 25 July. Our teams are working hard to make sure the centres are ready and waiting to welcome back the local community, and we look forward to seeing everyone very soon.”

For more information, click here.