Labour-run Ealing Council has rebuffed claims by Ealing Conservatives that it has delayed the long-awaited rebuild of the Gurnell Leisure Centre, despite earlier pledges that construction would begin in 2025.
At a full council meeting on 4 March 2025, cabinet member Councillor Blerina Hashani said that “building work on Gurnell would start this year.” But when challenged by Conservative councillors on 21 October 2025 to confirm a start date, the council declined to do so and did not commit to beginning construction before the May 2026 local elections.
Gurnell Leisure Centre, which opened in the early 1980s, closed in 2020 during Covid and a decision was made by Ealing Council at the end of lockdown not to reopen due to the building being outdated.
Plans for the new site will include a 50-metre swimming pool along with a range of health and fitness facilities including a gym and climbing wall as well as building 300 homes of which around a third being affordable.
Opposition members say the delay highlights “months of muddled messaging” from the Labour administration. In April 2025, the council said a “funding strategy for Gurnell is still being developed.” The Conservatives claim there is still no full costing for either the leisure centre or the housing development designed to finance it.
Ealing Conservative group leader Cllr Julian Gallant said the project had become a symbol of inaction. He said: “Labour’s record on Gurnell is one of dither, delay and broken promises. It’s been over five and a half years since Gurnell closed its doors, and there’s still no start date, no funding plan, and no credibility left. Residents are right to wonder if the pile of rubble on the site will ever become a leisure centre. The people of Ealing deserve action, not excuses.”
In a statement to EALING.NEWS, an Ealing Council spokesperson said the authority remained committed to the project and that key preparatory work was progressing:
“The Council is unwavering in its commitment to delivering the new Gurnell Leisure Centre—this is a landmark project that will revitalise local leisure services and create lasting value for the community.
“The most recent update to Cabinet on the Gurnell project was in February 2024 where Cabinet authorised the project to proceed to planning and procurement. That report confirmed that a paper setting out the overall funding strategy will be provided [to Cabinet] once the planning permission has been decided and the procurement exercises for the leisure centre and enabling residential development have been progressed to a stage where the project can commence to the construction phase.
“Planning permission was obtained for the project in May 2025 and procurement exercises and financial modelling for the leisure centre and enabling residential development are underway and are due to conclude in the first quarter of 2026 following which reports can be brought to Cabinet.”
