Issue - meetings

Report of the Interim Strategic Director of Place

Presented by the Community Services Portfolio Holder

Councillor A V Smith presented the report to members, emphasising the scope and scale of the project, the approval of which would require the highest level of oversight, as it would undoubtedly have an impact upon the Council’s budget and service delivery for years to come.  She added that it also triggered the Head of Paid Service’s duty under Section 4 of the Local Government and Housing Act 1989 to report to all members of the Council on changes to the exercise of Council functions. She made reference to report to Cabinet on 1 November and the decisions and recommendations made at that meeting.  She stated that it would not come as a surprise to members of council or the general public to hear that a project the scale and size of the leisure project represented a significant financial investment for the council and a considerable amount of time and resources had been expended on making sure the figures stacked up.  She added that due to the commercially sensitive nature of the financial implications associated with the outsourcing business case, it was necessary that the detailed financial information regarding the project’s affordability modelling, funding proposals and impact on the council were restricted and as such they were presented in the confidential Appendix A which accompanies the report.

Councillor A V Smith advised that in arriving at a decision to proceed with the A511 site, Cabinet had regard to information from detailed site investigations and surveys carried out by the specialist building consultancy group CBRE, which included intrusive ground investigations, ecological assessments, traffic surveys and highways and vehicular access.  Cabinet had commissioned this work to provide confidence to the Council in making the next key decisions in the project.

Councillor A V Smith stated that the reasons for building a new leisure centre were many and varied but in short the existing 40 year old leisure centre at the Hermitage site, whilst popular and well used, was increasingly unable to meet the expectations as well as the current and future demands of the 21^st century leisure user.  The sports hall, swimming pool and the fitness suite were all too small to meet current demand and an increasing number of customers were becoming frustrated at the difficulties they were experiencing when trying to book facilities which had resulted in some users moving to use facilities elsewhere.  The proposed new leisure centre with its enhanced facilities and services on offer would not only address the issue of current and future demand but would also play a critical role in achieving the Council’s vision, contributing to delivery of the Council's five priorities as set out in its Corporate Delivery Plan as well as being a major contributor to the outcomes of the Council's emerging Health and Wellbeing Strategy.

Councillor A V Smith commented however that the proposed outsourcing was not just about building a new facility and she drew members' attention to the fact that the Hood Park Leisure Centre in Ashby was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51