On the eve of the biggest council shake-up in a generation, Local Government Minister John Healey said: “The acid test will be whether these councils deliver their promises including better services, leadership and achieving more for less.”

Ten months after the unitary Durham County Council came into being, The Northern Echo continues its year-long series taking an in-depth look at whether the council is passing that test. Local Government Correspondent Mark Tallentire reports.

“WE will never get a better opportunity than we have now.

“We’ve got the Olympics, the Rugby World Cup, the Ashes and we’re bidding for the football World Cup. The focus on sport is massive.

“People who have never thought about jogging, swimming or netball will want to get involved.

“We’ve got to take advantage of that. We’ve got to make sure when people say they want to do something, the opportunities are there.”

Those are the words of Terry Collins, Durham County Council’s director of neighbourhood services. And they’re as succinct a vision for sport and leisure in County Durham as you’re likely to find – at least before a detailed strategy is up and running, sometime next year.

The talk at Durham’s County Hall is of an “Olympic legacy”: how to turn a London Olympics to the long-term benefit of the people of the North-East.

But it’s a marathon task, for several reasons. First, leisure is a whole new ball game. It used to be the responsibility of the now-defunct district councils.

Critics say they warred between themselves, desperate to win some victory for their local chiefdom, regardless of the bigger picture.

Second, there may be fewer local authority leisure centres.

All council-run facilities in County Durham are lossmaking and subsidised; and their geographic spread is more a result of historical accident than careful planning.

Councillor Bob Young, cabinet member for leisure, said: “Some facilities have been around a very long time and are very tired.

“There will be some reevaluation of facilities around the county.”

Third, other funding for sport in the North-East is quickly disappearing.

Peter Warburton, director of sport at Durham University, says the region is failing its talented athletes, forcing them to leave in search of first-class facilities.

“2012 (the London Olympics) has been catastrophic for sport in the region,”

he said.

“I think the county has taken over at, potentially, a very difficult time.

“If it wasn’t for the universities, we would have virtually no one at 2012.”

And fourth, the public sector is facing one of its toughest budget squeezes in decades. Durham County Council expects to have to cut £60m from its budget in the next three years.

As Coun Young said: “It will be a huge challenge to persuade cabinet to support our initiative with funding.”

Spending on sport and leisure is already ten per cent above the national average. At £14.3m, it makes up 15 per cent of the total neighbourhoods budget.

Coun Young added: “We are putting the money in, but are we getting the results? We don’t think we are.”

Nevertheless, leisure has been a priority for the new council. One of its first actions was to introduce free swimming for under-19s and over- 60s. Since then, there have been nearly 200,000 free swims.

“It demonstrates the extra mile that Durham County Council has gone. We’re punching above our weight on this,” said Steve Howell, head of sport and leisure.

The council is building links with sports clubs, from the grassroots to Durham County Cricket Club, one of the county’s biggest successes of recent years.

David Harker, the club’s chief executive, said: “The county seems to realise sport has a huge role to play in people’s lives, in terms of health, fitness and aspiration.

“I’m delighted at the level of support offered and their desire to be involved.

“My first impressions are very favourable.”

Judith Rasmussen, regional strategic lead for Sport England, said: “They seem to be approaching it in the right way.

“There’s not been a kneejerk reaction – they’re taking the long-term view.”

The independent experts have been won over, too.

Every leisure centre assessed since last April has improved its rating and three – Abbey, in Pity Me, Teesdale, in Barnard Castle, and Chesterle- Street – are “highly commended”.

Even Mr Warburton is very positive: “This could be the best thing that’s happened to sport in Durham, full stop.”

So what might that Olympic legacy be?

Coun Young and Mr Collins talk in guarded terms about high-profile events; perhaps fixtures of the sporting calendar brought to Durham or something new.

Mr Collins said: “We recognise we’ve got a fantastic opportunity with the Olympics.

We want to maximise our opportunities by creating programmes around that time.

“This is a hot-bed for sport.

People talk, live and breathe sport. They don’t need a lot of encouragement.

“Our task is just to make sure when they want to go through the door, it’s open.”