Major repair work costing in the region of £500,000 is planned to take place at Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre.

St Edmundsbury Borough Council, which owns the building, has submitted a planning application for the works and a decision will be made by the borough council’s development control committee on Thursday.

The plans include replacing the existing flumes, adding a draught lobby to the main entrance and replacing the existing cladding, all to the north extension.

The building is run by Abbeycroft Leisure Trust on behalf of the borough council and the proposed works have been agreed through negotiation between the two organisations.

As the borough council is the landlord it takes responsibility for the maintenance of the fabric of the building and a spokeswoman said it budgets carefully for such works.

Warren Smyth, chief executive of Abbeycroft Leisure, said: “These are essential works to the leisure centre that the council are carrying out as they own the building. They involve maintenance and upkeep work.”

Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre first opened in the 1970s and was substantially rebuilt after a fire, reopening in 2006.

A council spokeswoman said it is very well used by all sections of the community, with 520,000 visits every year.

She said: “This application addresses end-of-life replacement of some of the exterior cladding, which we are taking the opportunity to upgrade to provide further insulation and help the building’s energy efficiency.

“Similarly, we are adding a draught canopy across the main doors, again to improve heat retention in the building.

“While we are on site, we are also looking at doing any necessary work on the flumes.

“We are awaiting confirmation of costs but the project will be in the region of £500,000 if it all goes ahead.

“Work can begin as soon as approvals are granted, and will be managed to cause the minimum of disruption to users.

“The external appearance of the building won’t be materially altered.”

The council spokeswoman said they were still getting quotes in for the work and had to see what could be achieved for the budget, adding the work would be phased.

The leisure centre has solar panels and Abbeycroft Leisure has invested in a building management system and energy management solutions for both the leisure centres it runs for St Edmundsbury.