Councillor Stuart Wheeler, cabinet representative for Leisure, Sport and Culture, will give a presentation on the review of leisure facilities across Wiltshire. This will be followed by a round table discussion of the proposals for the Chippenham community area.
Minutes:
Councillor Stuart Wheeler, Cabinet member for Leisure, Sport and Culture, gave a presentation on the Council’s proposals for leisure provision in the county over the next 25 years.
Wiltshire Council had inherited some form of financial responsibility for 23 leisure facilities on 1 April 2009 and it was considered that the present indoor leisure facility stock was broadly outdated, inefficient and unsustainable. £93 million would be required over the next 25 years to sustain the existing buildings, and this did not include any service or building enhancements, which were much required in some of the centres.
Councillor Wheeler stated the following points pertinent to Chippenham Community Area:
· The Olympiad Leisure Centre was considered to be of strategic significance to the Council.
· The facility would continue to be the responsibility of the Council.
· Scheduled investment was planned into plant, machinery and equipment.
· Provision would be made for Adult Learning and Disabilities and Youth Services to use the new dedicated and shared improved facilities within the Olympiad Leisure Centre. This was the first example of a new ‘community campus’.
· It was intended to provide a consistently high quality facility.
Following Councillor Wheeler’s presentation, various comments and questions were raised, as follows:
· A comment was made that there may be other sites in Chippenham, besides the Olympiad, that could offer leisure facilities in a better way. Councillor Wheeler commented that this was considered expensive and contradictory to the community campus initiative.
· Other activities, such as dancing, art and singing, did not appear to have been considered in the review and it was questioned whether such services at Neeld Hall were being enhanced or improved. Councillor Wheeler commented that this review was focussing on the 23 existing leisure facilities only at this stage.
· A question arose regarding the costs of relocating the services at Middlefield to the Olympiad. Robin Townsend, Head of Leisure, reported that the bringing together of services under one roof would allow other spaces to be used to their full potential. Councillor Wheeler commented that costs were predicted to reduce by merging the two facilities; but the exact costs did not form part of the leisure review and would need to be sought from the Workplace Transformation Team.
· In response to a query regarding provision for disabled swimmers, Councillor Wheeler stated that any changes to the pool and any other leisure facilities would all be fully DDA compliant.
· A comment was made regarding the lack of provision for swimming competitions to be held in Chippenham, due to the swimming pool being of an insufficient size. Councillor Wheeler was appreciative of the need for more competition-size pools within the county, but it was not possible to provide one in every town. The proposals in Trowbridge included an eight-lane pool, a leisure pool with flumes and a learner pool.
· Disappointment was expressed that some of the facilities at the Olympiad would become unavailable to local groups, such as the beer festival and arts/cultural events. It was suggested that investment of this kind was lacking in Chippenham, and appeared to be more predominant in other towns such as Corsham and the Pound Arts Centre. Councillor Wheeler reminded the meeting of recent investments in Chippenham such as the Wiltshire and Swindon History Centre, which was a great facility for the town.
The Chairman thanked Councillor Wheeler for his presentation.