Tor Leisure will be significantly refurbished over the spring and summer as a multi-million-pound regeneration scheme begins to gather pace.

Glastonbury was one of 101 towns across the UK – and one of only two in Somerset – which has received funding from the government's towns fund, with £23.6m being provided for projects designed to enhance the town centre and improve the town's fortunes.

One of the 11 projects being funded by the town deal is the revamping of the Tor Sports and Leisure Centre off the A361 Street Road, with planning permission being granted by Mendip District Council in December 2022.

Somerset Council (which replaced the district council in April 2023) has now appointed the contractor for the leisure centre improvements, meaning work can get under way in a matter of weeks.

The project originally envisioned that a one-and-a-half storey extension would be built onto the existing clubhouse building to create a new multi-use sports hall.

However, due to high inflation within the construction industry, the project was re-scoped in early-2023 to refurbishing the existing building without extending its physical footprint.

The refurbishment will turn the facility into a 'centre of excellence', offering opportunities for sports, training, education and health and well-being support, as well as being a place for people to meet and socialise.

Plans include a multi-use hall, a gym, changing rooms, showers and toilets (including an accessible changing places toilet), three treatment rooms, a meeting space, a storage room, a social area with a bar and separate kitchenette, and a remodelled reception space complete with a café.

The transformed facilities will be operated by Fusion Leisure, as part of its 50-year lease on the site, and will be available for use by a range of local sports and clubs, including cricket, football, bowls, rounders and acrobatics.

Glastonbury town deal programme manager Jane Sharp said: "The run-down facilities are under-used and have been impacted by covid closures, reducing participation.

"The refurbishment will provide a modern facility benefiting sports clubs, residents and visitors who will have access to a range of sporting fixtures, gym equipment, studio facilities, community events and informal pursuits – all helping to improve health and well-being and encourage healthier lifestyles.

"The site is in an accessible location and is within walking distance for residents, schools and those living in deprived wards within Glastonbury, which are some of the ten per cent most deprived nationally."

The 11 projects within the town deal are designed to complement each other, providing either physical links across the different regeneration sites in the town or being driven by the same overarching themes.

New multi-user paths linking the leisure centre to the Beckery area were recently completed as part of the Robert Richards initiative, with further paths being constructed in the coming 18 months to link the Beckery area to St. Brigid's Chapel and Field and the regenerative farming centre planned on Porchestall Drove.

The leisure centre will also be fitted with new solar panels as part of the Glastonbury clean energy project, which is being spearheaded by Avalon Clean Energy.

The leisure centre refurbishment has a budget of £2.38m, of which £2.09m comes from the town deal and the remaining £290,000 being match funded from other sources.

This funding is ring-fenced to the Glastonbury town deal, meaning it cannot be spent on delivering day-to-day services such as adult social care or road repairs – and it will be returned to central government if it is not spent in its entirety by March 2026.

Work to refurbish the leisure centre is expected to begin in a matter of weeks and will take "in the region of six or seven months", meaning the work will be completed by the autumn.

Access to the outdoor pitches will be maintained throughout, with the cricket changing rooms being completed early in the programme to allow Glastonbury Cricket Club to play its home fixtures in their normal place this spring and summer.