Police officers, fire crews and building contractors have walked the grounds of Carlton’s Richard Herrod Centre to plot a safety strategy for the flagship Carlton Active development. Gedling Borough Council staged the joint review in the first full week of June, pulling in Nottinghamshire Police, including Designing Out Crime Officers, alongside Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue teams and the firms now preparing the site for demolition.
The council described the exercise as partnership working in action, with the group reviewing site security and thinking ahead to how the layout can discourage trouble once the doors open. In a statement posted on 10 June, the authority said planning together now was “setting the tone for a welcoming, community-focused Carlton Active facility in the future”. The gathering was timed deliberately, coming just days after the centre was formally handed to delivery partner Alliance Leisure and construction team Universal Civils and Build. Council Leader Councillor John Clarke MBE called the handover an important step forward, describing the scheme as a major investment in the future of leisure in Carlton.
The building shut its doors in May and hoardings are now up while surveys, safety checks and the gutting of internal fittings continue. A full planning application is expected later this year, and if Cabinet gives the nod, construction could start in 2027. The multi-million-pound overhaul aims to replace both the ageing Richard Herrod Centre and Carlton Forum Leisure Centre with a single, fully accessible hub on the Richard Herrod site. Early proposals include an eight-lane swimming pool, a teaching pool, a 100-station gym, community rooms and a café.
The involvement of Designing Out Crime Officers signals a deliberate focus on crime prevention through environmental design, a method that bakes in safer sightlines, lighting and natural surveillance from the start rather than bolting on security later. The project has not been without friction: in 2025, Gedling Indoor Bowls Club gathered more than a thousand signatures on a petition urging the council to reverse the club’s exclusion from the new facility’s plans. No update on that campaign has been given alongside the latest safety work.
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