New Leisure Scheme Proposed for Whitby and Pickering

Residents are due to get fairer access to North Yorkshire’s leisure and wellbeing hubs if senior councillors back proposals for a new membership scheme.

Active North Yorkshire was launched in September 2024 to help give people better opportunities to become and stay active, with an emphasis on improving residents’ physical and mental wellbeing.

The service forms part of North Yorkshire Council’s countywide commitment to support healthier communities.

More than 70 legacy membership types are available across the leisure sites owned and managed by the authority, which currently support 19,500 health and fitness members and 6,550 learn to swim pupils.

Proposals seeking to introduce a consistent, simple membership structure that gives all residents a fairer opportunity to access leisure facilities in their area will be presented to members of the council’s executive on Tuesday next week (February 3).

North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for leisure, Cllr Simon Myers, said:

“Our priority is to encourage and support as many people as possible across North Yorkshire to live healthier and more active lifestyles.

“All residents should have fair and equal access to leisure facilities in their area, wherever they live across the county, so that they have the opportunity to improve their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

“A lot of work has been ongoing with our customers to learn what they want from their leisure and wellbeing hubs, and the message coming through loud and clear is that people want the option of having flexible memberships without being tied down to a contract.

“We have taken that on board as we look to introduce a more streamlined and consistent structure across all our sites. These proposals will be carefully considered when members of the executive meet next week.”

As part of the proposals, fixed-term contracts would be scrapped with pay as you go options available across all hubs, allowing customers greater flexibility to use facilities at an affordable price without committing to a membership.

All customers wanting to take up a membership would be able to pay by monthly, no contract direct debit or by an annual cash payment.

Users would have the option to sign up to “swim only” memberships, while a range of premium memberships offering a range of enhanced health and wellbeing benefits would also be available across the county.

These premium memberships would include multi-site access to all Active North Yorkshire hubs, virtual health care and on demand classes.

Senior concessions would be brought in line with state pension age to create a fairer and more consistent approach across the county, while customers younger than state pension age would still be able to access other concession categories based on eligibility.

A dedicated wellbeing membership would be available for individuals referred through specialist programmes who require tailored support.

Customers could also access virtual activities, including on-demand digital fitness advice and 24/7 online healthcare, without travelling to an Active North Yorkshire site. This would give greater flexibility and choice to people living in rural parts of the county.

The proposed new structure could result in some customers seeing their membership costs increasing, particularly if their membership price has not been reviewed for several years, or if they have taken advantage of previous offers. However, this would be offset by offering a fairer, more consistent service across the entirety of North Yorkshire.

The suggested changes form part of the council’s wider commitment to transforming health and wellbeing provision across the county.

In November last year, the authority approved a multi-million-pound investment that will see a total of £36 million invested in four key sites, as part of a new leisure investment strategy.

The plans would see the funding focused on improving Active North Yorkshire sites in Selby and Skipton as well as Pickering and Whitby. The Pickering and Whitby locations are currently operated by Everyone Active, and are due to become part of Active North Yorkshire in 2027.

The investment will facilitate the creation of improved gym facilities, better changing rooms and additional studio space, as well as an overhaul of swimming pools. There will also be more accessible pool access, including Changing Places facilities for people with additional needs, and new reception areas and public spaces across the four sites.

An additional £3 million is to be invested in a phased programme to upgrade gym and fitness equipment across a further 12 leisure sites overseen by the council.

If the proposals are approved, direct communication will be made with customers closer to the time of the prospective rollout about any changes to their leisure memberships and the new offers available.