Football, swimming and gymnastics fees will increase at a Stoke-on-Trent leisure centre as part of council budget proposals.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is proposing the price hikes at Dimensions to help raise an extra £297,000 a year.

But council leaders say the new fees will still be 'competitive', and point to improvements to services such as the resurfacing of the 3G pitches at Dimensions. The council's leisure and wellbeing service generates around £5 million a year, and leaders hope the increased fees will move it towards a position of 'full cost recovery'.

If the budget is approved, the cost of hiring a 3G football pitch at Dimensions will rise by £15 per hour. According to the council's business case, this takes into account competitors, strong demand and the quality of the new surface.

General swim sessions at Dimensions will increase by £1 – it currently costs £6.60 for adults and £5 for juniors. And gymnastics lessons and play sessions will cost £4 more per hour. The business case says that this will include an improved daytime offer and a better staff to child ratio.

The council says the new fees will still be 'competitive' (Pete Stonier).

Along with the price increases, the council is also hoping to generate extra income by increasing gym memberships.

Lynn Watkins, cabinet member for health and wellbeing, told scrutiny committee members that the proposals were 'positive'. She said: "There's been a steady increase in membership at Fenton Manor and Dimensions. The city is addressing health inequalities as part of the corporate strategy so it's positive to see adults and children are accessing these services.

"Consideration has been given to pricing. General membership for an adult is £35 a month, which is the same as private gyms in the city. It is proposed that swimming goes up by a pound, with a slight increase of £4 an hour for gymnastics. This would allow additional staff, which is important when you consider what the children are doing in the gymnastics centre.

"All these things are seen as positive. The leisure and wellbeing service generates around £4.9 million and we feel we can be competitive with these slight increases."

Stephen Gunther, director of public health, added: "The key element is improving quality. For example, at Dimensions we've recently refurbished the pitches there. And so the price increases are a recognition of that investment and improvement in quality."

Councillor Chandra Kanneganti, a member of the adult social care, health integration and wellbeing scrutiny committee, believes that increasing fees is not the only way to generate income.

He said: "You could consider other proposals. Rather than increasing fees at leisure centres, you could look at opportunities to improve the business and increase access."

Cllr Kanneganti suggested that the council could follow the example of private gyms which offer 24-hour access, using electronically-controlled entrances to keep staffing costs down.

Mr Gunther said the council was 'not quite there' in terms of 24-hour opening, but he insisted the council was looking at ways of increasing the use of its leisure centres. This includes contacting previous users to let them know when a badminton court is available, for example.

A consultation on the council's budget proposals runs until February 10. Residents can have their say by visiting stoke.gov.uk/budget2025. They can also write to Budget 2025, c/o Executive Assistant to the Corporate Director of Resources (S151 Officer), Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke ST4 1HH.

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