Construction work is expected to begin next year on the new £12.3m Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre near Horsham in West Sussex – with the centre scheduled to open to the public in 2018.

Horsham District Council (HDC), which approved the funding for the facility in November 2015, is now in the process of “final consultations” and expects a planning approval to be granted “in early autumn”.

Once approval has been confirmed, a contractor will then be appointed for the GT3 Architects-designed building.

Facilities at the centre will include a six-court sports hall, an 80-station health and fitness club, a group cycle studio and three fitness studios, a café and a sensory room.

Outdoor facilities will include an athletics track, football pitches, five multi-use games areas and a skate park.

The centre will be developed next to the ageing Broadbridge leisure centre, which will remain open throughout the construction process.

The new centre will be run by Places for People Leisure.

A spokesperson for HDC said: “The development will deliver the biggest public “dry-side” sports and leisure centre in the district and will see a major new facility built to replace the existing Broadbridge Heath Leisure Centre.”