Sands Centre Raac update issued by Cumberland Council

All events at The Sands Centre in Carlisle in October have been postponed due to concerns about potentially dangerous concrete at the venue.

Cumberland Council had already paused events in September, but they have now announced further postponements after Reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac) was detected in the events space.

Raac is a lightweight form of concrete which is weaker than the normal building material.

The auditorium is the only part of the building where Raac has been detected, the council said.

The redeveloped areas of the venue are unaffected.

A Cumberland Council spokesperson said: “Following the recent change in government guidance on the use of RAAC in buildings, a detailed assessment of The Sands’ events space is continuing.

“RAAC concrete has been identified in the roof of the events centre and action needs to be taken by the council to ensure the safe use of the auditorium.

“Specialist structural engineers, working on behalf of the council, are looking at the potential long-term solutions as well as what mitigating steps could be taken to allow the space to continue hosting events for a temporary period.

“We will provide updates as soon as they are available.

“As the assessments are ongoing, we have advised GLL that the events centre needs to remain closed. GLL will postpone events in October.

"These are in addition the postponements already put in place for events in September. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause however safety is at the heart of any decision we make.

“GLL will make every effort to reschedule dates for the affected events. They will contact ticket holders with updates. 

“The decision to temporarily close the events space is a precautionary step and does not impact on the day to day running of the main leisure centre.

"The new main Sands Centre building is unaffected, which includes the pools, gym, sports halls, café, bars and restaurant.”

A GLL spokesperson added: “At the request of Cumberland Council, we are postponing all events in October. Once the time frames become clearer, we will be able to update ticket holders as to the status of the future events programme.

“At this time, there is no need for customers to contact the box office, and rest assured that we will be in touch to discuss options with ticket holders once we’re able to do so.”

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