Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council will consider options to extend the opening hours of local leisure centres.
Facilities under consideration are the Joey Dunlop, Coleraine and Roe Valley leisure centres.
Ballymoney UUP Councillor Darryl Wilson raised the issue at a meeting of the council’s Leisure and Development Committee on Tuesday, September 19.
He asked for an outline of costs “associated with extending the opening hours of the gym at the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre in the evenings and at weekends”.
Cllr Wilson also asked for options to be presented “to mitigate the above-mentioned costs from with the current Leisure and Development budget”.
The fitness suite at the Joey Dunlop Leisure Centre, in Ballymoney, has recently been refurbished, with equipment including power racks, bumper plates, Olympic bars, prowler lanes, high intensity assault bikes and erg bikes.
The aesthetics have also been upgraded with new flooring and a vibrant new colour scheme.
Cllr Wilson emphasised that since the upgrades, the facilities are “fantastic”, adding that it would be in the interests of the “health and well-being of the public” to extend the opening hours.
He acknowledged that the hours were adjusted previously “due to budget constraints” and said he appreciated that the changes would come “at a cost”.
He requested that council officers prepare a paper to explore implementing longer opening hours.
Leisure and Development Services director Richard Baker said while it is a “question of income versus expenditure”, it is “also about providing a service to the public”. He added the “cutting edge facility” should be “exploited to the best of our ability”.