A presentation and consultation on the review of leisure services in Wiltshire.
Minutes:
Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet Representative for Leisure, Sport and Culture, gave a presentation on the future of leisure facilities in Wiltshire. There was an excellent facility in Malmesbury and Wiltshire Council was not proposing to change this in a great way. The Activity Zone would continue to be managed by DC Leisure and their contract had been extended to 2015 to allow for time for all Council-owned leisure facilities to be reviewed.
Wiltshire Council had inherited a form of financial responsibility for 23 facilities around the county, including many facilities which were out of date and inefficient. The situation was unsustainable, with £93 million required over the next 25 years to sustain the existing stock, excluding any investment to improve the buildings.
As such, proposals had been developed on the basis of £117 million investment over 25 years, to deliver a high quality, efficient and sustainable service. This would also go some way to meeting carbon reduction targets, with leisure facilities currently accounting for 21% of the Council’s carbon emissions.
The proposals would see four new facilities within campuses, with another two existing facilities being significantly enhanced and retained. The remaining facilities would also receive significant capital investment, before being made available for transfer to community management arrangements, as part of a robust process including support and identification of suitable business models, phased financial support resulting in independency and potentially the transfer of freehold. It was acknowledged that different mechanisms and solutions would suit different facilities, and so a report on options had been commissioned to give examples of arrangements which had been established in other areas.
It was noted that no decisions would be made by Wiltshire Council until consultation had been completed. Consultation on the proposals was taking place up to 29 October 2010, with details available on the Wiltshire Council website, at libraries, leisure facilities and offices. A report on the outcome of the consultation would be submitted to the Cabinet in December, and the Council would consider the results in February 2011.
The presentation was followed by a short question and answer session. This covered the following main points:
· The Activity Zone was working well with local schools
· Malmesbury Marlins expressed satisfaction with the Activity Zone pool, its management and its provision for disabled individuals
· Free swimming for those aged 60+ would not continue after September 2010 as funding for this scheme was no longer available from central Government.
A question was also raised about the capacity of The Activity Zone. Although the relevant Officer did not have the information to hand, since the Area Board meeting, Wiltshire Council leisure representatives had discussed capacity levels with the operator DC Leisure Management Limited (DCL) and could report that the facility was operating within comfortable capacity limits and that there was sufficient spare capacity to cater for growth in all areas of the business. This translated as between approximately 20-25% growth in the fitness area, 25% growth in swimming and around 15% capacity left available for casual sports hall activities. In addition there was significant capacity in squash as this sport had seen a national decline in usage over the past few years. Wiltshire Council’s view was that in strategic planning terms this represented an acceptable level of usage as there was sufficient capacity for growth when considering future demographic fluctuations, but the figures also demonstrated how well used the facility was.
Councillor Wheeler then invited those present to indicate their views about the development of the leisure service, by means of the electronic voting handsets provided.