New Hucknall Leisure Centre pool project causing parking pain and traffic chaos

Work on the upgrade at the Linby Road venue is due to carry on until next February.

But part of the car-park has been cordoned off for the project, meaning a large number of spaces have been lost.

And the knock-on effect has been queuing traffic waiting to get in to the leisure centre and vehicles battling for spaces on both sides of Linby Road, particularly in early evening.

One woman told the Dispatch: “It's worse between 4pm and 7.30pm when kids are going for swimming lessons.

"That, combined with other road users, means the leisure centre is busy at those times with lots of people wanting to park there.

“But with half the car park not in use, it means people are queuing up out into Linby Road and that, with already busy rush-hour traffic, is causing major log jams for us all and traffic is at a standstill.

"I really fear someone, probably a child, could run out and be seriously hurt.”

She added that users who can’t get into the leisure centre car park are snarling up Linby Road, making it difficult for vehicles to pass.

Coun John Wilmott (Ash Ind), who represents Hucknall North on both Ashfield District Council and Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “On-street parking is the responsibility of the county council and I have raised the issues of these parking contraventions directly with them.

"The safety of residents and leisure centre users is paramount and we will be taking the concerns of the resident on board.

"We appreciate that these works will have an impact but we hope this will be minimal.

“The new pool is the biggest single investment in the leisure centre since it was built and is part of a wider £22.5 million investment into leisure facilities in our district.

"When it is done, Hucknall residents will have access to the best council-run leisure facilities in the UK.

“There is some disruption with any major construction project – but it will open by next spring as planned.”