Horley's new £9 million leisure centre has opened for business.

The “flagship” centre in Anderson Way opened its doors on time and without fanfare first thing on Monday morning.

Reigate and Banstead Borough Council is planning an official opening ceremony in February.

The first customers filed in eager to see what the new centre has to offer, including a 25-metre six-lane swimming pool with ramped access for disabled users, an exercise and dance studio and a fitness gym with 45 stations.

The borough council has said the leisure centre is the next step in a wide-ranging regeneration programme for Horley, that will create jobs, housing, community, cultural and social opportunities. Adam De Save, borough council executive member for healthy communities, said the centre looks “amazing.”

Coun De Save said: “The council has invested £9 million in the development of the new Horley Leisure Centre, which will vastly improve sport and leisure opportunities for local people.

“The centre looks amazing and provides fantastic new facilities to help people of all ages and abilities keep healthy and active.”

Built on the site of the former Court Lodge Secondary School in Court Lodge Road, the centre stands in newly-constructed Anderson Way, a road named after the ageing Horley Anderson Centre which the new facility replaces, and which served as the town's leisure centre from 1974.

The Horley Anderson Centre, which closed for the last time last Sunday night (January 8), will now be demolished.

The demolition is expected to start next month, with the site to become public open space, forming part of Horley’s Riverside Green Chain.

Horley's new leisure centre is a state-of-the-art facility.

Among its features are a teaching pool, a four-court multi-use sports hall, separate male, female, family, group and disabled changing areas, a reception with viewing gallery, cycle parking and parking for 150 cars, shared with neighbouring Horley Town Football Club.

Coun De Save said: “We’ve had a lot of positive feedback already from residents and sports clubs, who are keen to be able to get in and use it for the first time, and I hope they will be as pleased with their new leisure centre as we are.”

The building has been designed to be accessible to all.

The pool has full-length ramped access with waterproof wheelchairs, and a pool- side hoist for disabled users, there are four fully equipped disabled changing rooms, two of which are fitted with ceiling-mounted electrical hoists to assist carers, and several pieces of gym equipment have adaptations to accommodate wheelchair users and other features to make them more accessible, including fluorescent markings for visually impaired customers.

All the facilities can be accessed via ramps or lift.

The centre also has high visibility signage with captions in Braille, a hearing loop system and tactile paving around its outside.

Further, the building has been designed to be as energy efficient as possible, to minimise its impact on the environment and reduce running costs.

Among its many energy saving measures are a biomass heating system, which uses waste wood chippings to heat the air and water, and which should supply 100% of the heating during the summer months and approximately 75% in the winter.

The system is a first in a centre operated by the borough council's leisure management partner, GLL.

Other measures include roof-mounted photovoltaic solar panels capable of producing energy throughout the year, and an ultra-violet system for cleaning and removing bacteria from the pool water, which uses half the amount of chlorine that would usually be required for a pool of the size in the centre.

The pools have thermal covers that are fitted when the centre is closed and which reduce water heating costs by 30%.

And much of the building's structure uses renewable or recycled building materials, including wooden structural beams and wooden cladding in the sports hall.

Construction of the new centre, which will be run by GLL, took just over a year and finished in December.

David Hughes, Reigate and Banstead partnership manager said: “This fantastic new centre benefits from a wide range of the latest fitness and leisure equipment, and offers a huge choice of activities, with something to suit every member of the community, regardless of age or fitness level.

“We hope that this flagship facility will help to encourage participation in physical activity and promote a healthy lifestyle.”

Coun De Save added: “Although the Horley Anderson Centre is to be demolished, the contribution made to the community by local resident Doug Anderson, who was instrumental in raising the funds to build the Horley Anderson through public subscription, will continue to be recognised.

“The new road created as part of the Horley Leisure Centre development, is called Anderson Way in his memory.”

The entire Horley Leisure Centre project will cost £9 million - £7.5 million to build it, plus the cost of the acquisition of the site, the demolition of Court Lodge School, the decommissioning and demolition of the Horley Anderson Centre, returning it to green space, and works to the neighbouring Innes Pavilion, which will remain.

The centre was built by Dutch firm Pellikaan Construction Limited, who have completed more than 900 leisure centre projects across Europe.

The borough council said 26 firms out of the 80 subcontractors used on the project were local companies, providing work for local people and reducing the impact on the environment from commuting to the site.

The centre was designed by S and P Architects, the same firm that has provided technical expertise for the Olympic London 2012 Aquatic Centre.