New chillers for city's ice rink to cost £1.5m

Up to £1.5m will be spent replacing failed chillers at a city centre ice rink, a council has said.

Oxford City Council owns Oxford Ice Rink and had expected the chillers, which are critical to the rink's functioning, to last until 2032.

Temporary chillers are costing the authority £1,600 a week and new permanent chillers could be installed within six months, according to the authority.

Serco runs leisure services, including the ice rink, for the council but it only has to pay the first £100,000 for key equipment and the council must pay the rest.

The authority's cabinet member for a Healthy Oxford, Chewe Munkonge, approved the £1.5m spend on Tuesday.

In a public document, the council said the ice rink's roof is due to be replaced in 2027 and its boilers are "approaching the end of their life, with parts no longer being manufactured".

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