A RADICAL rethink is needed to make sure the Domesday scenario facing the region's leisure facilities does not return to haunt future generations.

With many of the ageing sports centres and swimming pools costing a fortune to run and maintain, building new ones is often cheaper than refurbishment.

But for those tasked with providing the facilities, new ways of finding funding is vital as National Lottery money, previously relied upon by local authorities, is drying up.

Some councils have taken the decision to close loss-making facilities, such as Richmond Sports Centre, in North Yorkshire, and Wolsingham School swimming pool, in Teesdale, County Durham.

Facilities such as Woodhouse Close Leisure Centre, in Bishop Auckland, and the 1970s-built Glenholme Leisure Centre, in Crook, both County Durham, are in a rundown state and need millions spent to improve them.

Woodhouse Close was built in 1968 and completely refurbished in 1989, but now needs an estimated £2m invested in it.

Solutions, the experts say, include partnerships with the private sector and the Government's £15bn rebuilding programme called Schools for the Future.

All secondary schools in England will be rebuilt over the next 15 years and many of the projects will include mordern sports facilities that can be used by the public, such as Brierton Community School, in Hartlepool.

Paddy Cochrane, managing director of Tees Valley Leisure, which manages venues for Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, is convinced partnership approaches are the way forward.

A housing development in the borough was recently given the go-ahead on the condition that a leisure facility was built by the developers for the community.

"Local authorities are now looking at the totality of facilities - education, private and their own - and trying to put together a picture of provision on a partnership basis," said Mr Cochrane.

"They have realised that none of the sectors can go it alone and need to be part of a joined-up way of thinking."

Phil Ball, head of leisure services at Sedgefield Borough Council, which has leisure centres in Newton Aycliffe, Ferryhill, Spennymoor and Shildon, is also sure the future depends on partnerships.

"This year, we need to spend at least £400,000 to keep buildings in the same state they are in at the moment," he said. "We're running at a pace to keep still.

"It's just like maintaining your car, you don't need to do it every year if you don't want to. But if that's the case, there will come a day when facilities become useless and may have to close."

Wear Valley District Council's leisure spending was cut from £1.5m a year to £700,000 and resulted in its flagship centre, the Spectrum, at Willington, having one of its two buildings closed