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Cleaner greener modern heating for council leisure centre

The White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre in Abingdon will see even more activity than usual from this week as work begins on a multi-million-pound replacement of the centre’s heating system with the new one providing a massive reduction in both energy costs and carbon emissions.

From Monday 10 February contractors will start to dismantle the old gas boilers, which need replacing, and they will begin installing Air Source Heat Pumps instead. These will be powered by 600 new solar panels being added to the roof. The transformation is expected to be completed by March 2026.

Users of the centre should notice little change in the day-to-day running, as the contractors will be mostly working outside the building, on the roof and at the rear. Any disruption of service will be kept to a minimum and will be advertised in advance. Construction traffic will be based at the centre’s overflow car park.

The centre’s new energy efficient measures have been made possible by the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix.

The scheme has given Vale of White Horse District Council nearly £6m towards upgrading the heating at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre in Abingdon and the Wantage Leisure Centre, where similar work is expected to start soon.

In addition to the PSDS funding, money for the work has also come from Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) – which is money from new developments in the area which goes towards local infrastructure, including projects such as this. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund has also contributed towards this decarbonisation work.

When work at both buildings is completed, the council has calculated that its overall carbon emissions should be reduced by more than 25 per cent, which will help it reach its target to become carbon neutral in its own operations by 2030.

Cllr Andrew Crawford, Cabinet Member for Finance and Property at Vale of White Horse District Council said: “In addition to hugely reducing carbon emissions, the use of renewable energy at the leisure centres will make them cheaper to run and less vulnerable to sudden rises in energy costs – making them much more economically viable in the long term.”

Cllr Bethia Thomas, Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Action and Nature Recovery at Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “We are so pleased that work is underway to change to modern, renewable, sustainable heating for our buildings. The work on the two leisure centres at Abingdon and Wantage alone will reduce our carbon emissions by more than a quarter. This follows similar decarbonisation work at Faringdon Leisure Centre. All of which means we are moving steadily towards our target for the Vale to be a carbon neutral council by 2030.”

The council is one of 183 organisations across the country awarded grants for 231 decarbonisation projects under the govt scheme, which aims to reduce public sector buildings’ reliance on gas and oil.

Director of Public Sector Decarbonisation at Salix, Ian Rodger, said: “We are pleased to see how Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding will help the Vale of White Horse District Council reach its net zero targets.

“It’s also very encouraging to see the potential this sort of funding support can have in creating a better environment in community leisure centres.”

Updated information will be available at the White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre and on our leisure centre webpage.

Notes to editors

The work at the White Horse Leisure Centre is being carried out by Ashe Construction Ltd and consultants, Pellings LLP.

The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme provides grants for public sector bodies to fund energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures.  You can find out more about it on the government website.

The finance is delivered by Salix Finance on behalf of the government run by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, aims to tackle emissions from heating public sector buildings, aid a green recovery and support the UK’s 2050 net zero target and clean growth goals.

About Salix: Salix’s role is to support the UK government in driving the transition to a low carbon future and meet challenging net zero targets. It delivers and administers grant and loan funding on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, the Department for Education and the Scottish and Welsh governments. This is delivered across the public sector as well as housing.

The schemes it delivers provide funding for energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation projects for public sector buildings as well as the housing sector. Their schemes are dedicated to reducing carbon emissions and supporting the government’s ambitious net zero targets. These programmes include the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, Home Upgrade Grant, the Low Carbon Skills Fund and Scotland’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund.