Thank you for your question Wates Construction Ltd, whose head office is in Leatherhead but with regional offices across England, was selected through a robust tender process having demonstrated the requisite skills, knowledge and track record to build such an important facility. Wates also provided best value for money from a build cost perspective. Wates strategy is to employ local sub-contractors where appropriate and through an agreed social value contract, will also support local communities, schools, students and local people, through training, learning and job opportunities, to optimise the value and positive impact of the project locally.

Thank you for your question.  The new facility will not have a steam room or sauna. During a rigorous evaluation process of the facility mix required and set against operational costs and predicted income, the decision  was taken not to include steam room or sauna.

Hi Jon, Thank you for your question.  Highlight will not include squash courts, moving forward. We are revisiting the Council’s strategic Indoor Facilities and Playing Pitch Strategy in the coming months however and will re-evaluate the level of demand and need for future provision, as part of that robust process.

Thank you for your question Dave.  You will appreciate the amount of work involved in ensuring we deliver a state of the art facility for our residents. This work is ongoing from a broad range of perspectives and we hope to be in a position to conclude the design and funding elements really soon to allow construction to commence.

Thank you for your question regarding the Highlight Leisure & Wellbeing facility.

The movable floor is a significant component of the facility, as Highlight will be the town’s main leisure and wellbeing facility for many years to come, so it’s important that it is future-proofed to accommodate changing and growing demands. The moveable floor offers much greater flexibility in the use of that area, increased opportunity for income generation. The movable floor allows for quick adjustments to pool depths so that it can be used by different activities, user groups and purposes in a way that a standard pool floor doesn’t. For example, we can set the floor at full depth for swimming or reduce depths for aquatic fitness activities for people with poor mobility, parent and baby classes and children’s learn to swim. By having the floor at “deck level” the area can even be used for “dry activities” - from low impact fitness classes to enabling spectating at club galas.