Agenda item

(a)  That the five year community leisure plan (Appendix A to the report) be adopted and implemented.

(b)  That the recommended facility mix be approved as set out in section 6.3 of the report.

(c)  That the Centre site be approved as the preferred site for the new leisure centre.

(d)  That a comprehensive masterplan for the Centre site be undertaken that identifies opportunities for a mix of leisure, community and residential use.

(e)  That the work identified at (d) be funded from the Leisure Strategy budget.

(f)  That a report be brought back to Cabinet in June 2015 to finalise and agree the masterplan for the Centre site.

(g)  That the Strategic Director Customer & Community Services be authorised to implement the next steps as set out in the report, following consultation with the relevant Commissioners for Community & Leisure; Neighbourhoods & Renewal; Social & Economic Inclusion; Health & Wellbeing and Parks & Open Spaces, including:

  i.  Implement the five year community leisure plan, subject to detailed development of options and public consultation.

  ii.  Agree the best procurement route for the ice arena refurbishment to secure best value and proceed to procurement and detailed designs.

The Commissioner for Community & Leisure and Assistant Director Community & Skills introduced a report which proposed taking further steps in the implementation of the Leisure Strategy, which had been approved by Cabinet in July 2014.

Consideration was given to the five year plan for community leisure which aimed to increase participation and engage people who were not currently active through a wide range of measures, for example targeted investment in locally accessible venues such as parks and enhanced levels of public access to facilities in schools.  The Community Sports Activation Fund had so far engaged 1,000 young people in the programme and the latest figures from Sport England revealed a 2% increase in the number of people in Slough active for 30 minutes per week, which indicated that good progress was already being made.

In relation to the improvement of core leisure facilities, the Cabinet were advised that the feasibility work had been conducted, as set out at Appendix B to the report, which had assessed all of the available evidence of community needs for leisure and a recommended facility mix for the new leisure centre to replace the facilities at Montem as follows:

• Minimum 6 lane swimming pool, with a preferred option for 8 lanes.
• 125m² learner pool.
• 100-125 station gym.
• 3 studios (2 fitness studios and a spinning studio).
• 5 court sports hall.
• 1-2 squash courts.

Following the detailed evaluation of fourteen sites across the borough, it was recommended that The Centre site on Farnham Road be identified as the preferred site and that a comprehensive masterplan for the site be developed to determine the best mix of leisure, residential and community uses.  The Cabinet noted the further testing that had been undertaken to compare the building of a new leisure centre at Farnham Road against refurbishing Montem.  This was set out fully in the Part II Appendix D, which was noted by the Cabinet without disclosing any exempt information.

The Cabinet welcomed the progress that had been made and discussed a number of issues including the importance of ensuring excellent access to new leisure centre, including public transport and cycle links; the potential opportunities for new services and activities at The Centre site; and the links to the wider strategic aims to increase participation and reduce obesity.  Encouraging people who were currently inactive to use the new leisure centre was a key challenge and promotion and engagement of the community offer was an important objective.  Commissioners discussed the site options as part of the wider the dispersed strategy which would ensure key facilities such as the leisure centres, ice arena, ten pin and community sport facility were located across the borough.  In discussing the facilities mix for the new leisure centre the Cabinet reaffirmed their commitment to work with partners towards achieving an 8-lane swimming pool.

At the conclusion of the discussion, the Cabinet agreed the recommendations, subject to a widening of the Commissioners to be consulted as part of the delegation under recommendation (g), and agreed to receive a further report in June 2015 on the masterplan for The Centre site and procurement options.

Resolved –

(a)  That the five year community leisure plan (Appendix A to the report) be adopted and implemented.

(b)  That the recommended facility mix be approved as set out in section 6.3 of this report.

(c)  That the Centre site be approved as the preferred site for the new leisure centre.

(d)  That a comprehensive masterplan for the Centre site should be undertaken that identifies opportunities for a mix of leisure, community and residential use.

(e)  That the work identified at (d) is funded from the Leisure Strategy budget.

(f)  A report is brought back to Cabinet in June 2015 to finalise and agree the masterplan for the Centre site.

(g)  That the Strategic Director Customer & Community Services be authorised to implement the next steps as set out in the report, following consultation with the relevant Commissioners for Community & Leisure; Neighbourhoods & Renewal; Social & Economic Inclusion; Health & Wellbeing and Parks & Open Spaces, including:

  i.  Implement the five year community leisure plan, subject to detailed development of options and public consultation

  ii.  Agree the best procurement route for the ice arena refurbishment to secure best value and proceed to procurement and detailed designs.