MORE than £1.2m will be invested in leisure facilities in Taunton and Wellington as a new contractor takes charge on Thursday (August 1).

Everyone Active – part of the Leicestershire-based Sports and Leisure Management – has replaced Greenwich Leisure Ltd (GLL) as the official leisure contractor for Somerset West and Taunton Council.

At the start of the new contract, the company will be making improvements on five sites in the two towns, including improvements to changing rooms and indoor cycling facilities.

The company has also pledged to increase participation in the former West Somerset area over the length of the contract.

A total of £387,000 will be spent at the Wellsprings Leisure Centre on Cheddon Road in Taunton, consisting of new gym equipment, revamping the indoor cycling studio and repainting the entire interior.

To allow this to occur, the gym will be closed for 12 days from Thursday (August 1).

At the Blackbrook Leisure Centre and Spa on Blackbrook Way, £400,000 will be spent on extending the gym, refurbishing the toning suite with new equipment, refreshing the changing rooms and building a new indoor cycling studio.

The gym will be closed for ten days from August 19, with the entire refurbishment expected to be staggered over a three-week period.

Taunton Pool – near the council’s Belvedere Road headquarters –  will see an investment of £65,000, and £20,000 will be ploughed into the Vivary Golf and Adventure Centre within Vivary Park.

Wellington Sports Centre’s gym will close for ten days from September 16 to allow for new gym kit and lighting to be installed, with the changing rooms and studios being refreshed.

This site will see an investment of £353,000 – bringing the total across all five sites to £1.225m.

Councillor Richard Lees, portfolio holder for sports, parks and leisure, told a full council meeting on Tuesday (July 30) that the council would work with the company to get more people involved in sport outside of the major settlements in the district.

He said in his written report: “They are looking at how they can go out into the wider community (i.e. the old West Somerset area offering facilities other than just in Taunton and Wellington.”