Phased return for council facilities

A timetable for the recovery of key leisure and cultural facilities across South Lanarkshire has been agreed.

It means that dates for when outdoor contact sport for adults, leisure centres, swimming pools, libraries and cultural venues can reopen can now be confirmed.

The global pandemic meant a complete shutdown of all public-facing facilities operated by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture. Some venues and facilities have already resumed as lockdown restrictions were eased, including country parks, golf, tennis, bowling, museums and some initial libraries and outdoor recreation facilities and services. As the country continues to move through the recovery phases as outlined by the Scottish Government, more facilities can now resume.

Starting from Monday, September 7, outdoor contact sport will be extended to include adults as well as children at the following venues: Hamilton Palace Sports Grounds, Lanark Racecourse pitch, Ballerup Recreation Area, the John Cumming Stadium, m, Bent Recreation Area, McKirdy Recreation Area and Newton Farm Community Wing.

- From Monday, September 14, the covered 3G pitch at Hamilton Palace Sports Grounds reopens for adults and children.

Leisure Centre Fitness Classes will resume at Blantyre Leisure Centre, Carluke Leisure Centre, Lifestyles Eastfield and John Wright Sports Centre. Outdoor classes will also be available at Carluke and John Wright Sports Centre.

East Kilbride Ice Rink will also reopen for patch ice coaching on this date. Curling and public skating will resume at a later date. - From Monday, September 21, Indoor gyms will reopen at Blantyre Leisure Centre, Carluke Leisure Centre, Lifestyles Eastfield, Lifestyles Lanark and John Wright Sports Centre. Indoor sports courts, for example for badminton, will also be available at some of these locations.

- On Monday, October 5, Indoor Cultural Venues will open for limited activities initially, for example arts courses and classes, at Hamilton Town House,

Rutherglen Ru Town Hall, Lanark Memorial Me Hall, East Kilbride Arts Ar Centre, Carluke Lifestyles and an East Kilbride Village Theatre. Th

The Th same day will also see swimming sw pools reopen at Hamilton H Water Palace and Dollan Aqua Centre. At this st stage, the pools will be open fo for club use, swimming le lessons and limited public la lane swimming. d

General Gene Manager of South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, David Booth, said:“I would like to thank all our customers for their patience and understanding as we begin the next phase of recovery.

“Our priorities have not changed – our number one concern is always for the safety of our staff and customers.

“The virus has not gone away. I would ask all our service users to observe the measures we have introduced and to adhere to them at all times.”