PRIVATISATION
Derby City Council is considering privatising
five sports centres to improve facilities and
raise cash for building repairs.
The council estimates it needs to spend a minimum
of £3.8m updating the five venues - Moorways
Sports Complex, Queen's Leisure Centre,
Springwood Leisure Centre, Shaftesbury Sports
Centre and Lancaster Sports Centre.
It paid £37,000 to Manchester-based consultancy
firm Strategic Leisure Ltd to come up with
recommendations for its review of its sport and
leisure service.
Under the privatisation option, the council would
seek to bring in a private leisure management
company to run the centres, perhaps by November
2005.
It is not yet known how such a move would affect
charges for users, but the council's opposition
Labour group fears that the public would lose
out.
Paul West, cabinet member for leisure and
cultural services, said, "The leisure
facilities need investment. That's no secret.
What we're looking at is the best way to realise
that."
He insisted no preferred option had been agreed.
Other options among the review's 27
recommendations include setting up a
not-for-profit trust to manage the sports
centres, and retaining an in-house management
structure.
The council previously considered closing one of
its five sports centres, but this idea has been
shelved. Martin Repton, Labour's former cabinet
member for recreation, said, "The idea of
privatisation fills me with fear. Private
organisations won't be coming in for
philanthropic reasons, they'll be coming in to
make money."
Mr Repton said a firm might
"cherrypick" the most profitable
elements of sporting provision and neglect the
others, and added that paying out thousands of
pounds in consultancy fees was "a scandalous
waste of public money". (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph) |
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SPORTS CENTRES
An indoor velodrome
and a 50-metre swimming pool could be built in Derby as
part of a major overhaul of the city's sport and leisure
facilities. The new swimming complex would replace
Derby's ageing Queen Street baths and the velodrome could
also be used as a concert venue with a capacity of up to
3,000 people.
Almost £50m could be spent on the facilities. The
proposals will be put to the city council's cabinet in
2010. The proposals are the result of work by the council
and specialist consultants.
The announcement comes as a Sport England survey placed
Derby in the bottom quarter for customer satisfaction in
its leisure facilities. Derby City Council's director of
environmental services, Paul Robinson, said, "People
are saying that the current facilities are not suitable,
they're not acceptable in terms of the modern state they
expect, that they don't meet their aspirations." No
sites for the venue have yet been put forward and the
cost of the new developments are likely to be met through
long-term borrowing and external funding.
The Lib Dem cabinet has backed the plans, saying it would
put £50m into the council's budget for them. The money
would come from long-term loans, paid back by taxpayers'
money and grants from sporting organisations. Councillor
Joe Naitta, cabinet member for leisure and culture, said,
"The costs are significant but our existing centres
are nearing the end of their lives and cost a lot to
maintain and refurbish. This is about looking forward and
getting something for the city's future." (Source: BBC News, Dec/09)
Moorways, would be demolished and rebuilt
and Oakwood would get its long-awaited swimming pool
under ambitious £50m plans to revitalise leisure in the
city. The proposals would see an Olympic-sized pool in
the city centre, and Gayton Pool, which families fought a
10-year battle to save, would play a major role. The aim
is to have two main sports "hubs" in the city,
Moorways and the city centre pool, and four smaller
centres, one at Gayton, and another at Oakwood's
Springwood Leisure Centre, which would get a 25m,
four-lane indoor pool, costing around £4m.
Lib Dem Oakwood councillor Frank Harwood said he was
delighted Springwood leisure centre was a preferred
option. He said, "This is something people in
Oakwood have been asking for for a long time and it will
be great if this leisure plan means it can finally
happen." Chris Harrington, secretary of Gayton
Community Association which fought to get the pool there
rebuilt when the council wanted it demolished, said,
"We fought because we felt it was a crucial part of
the community. It is encouraging the council is
considering making it one of the key centres in the
city."
The two other "satellite" centres could be at
schools, with Woodlands, Noel Baker and Sinfin in the
running. The proposals, drawn up by independent
consultants PMPGenisis, identify Moorways for major
development, becoming the site for a 250m indoor cycling
velodrome providing Olympic-standard facilities, a 10 to
12-court sports hall, and 80m indoor athletics track, bar
and cafe. The outdoor 400m track will be replaced. The
city centre Queen's Leisure Centre would be closed. A
site for the second hub, including an Olympic swimming
pool, is not suggested but PMPGenisis said it should be
within the city centre, close to public transport
connections.
Springwood Leisure Centre is the preferred site for one
of four "satellite" offices. It would service
the east of the city while the suggestion for the west
centre is the replacement Gayton Pool, at a cost of more
than £1m. The north centre is proposed to be a
refurbished site at Woodlands School and possible
locations in the south for another 25m, four-lane pool
with 40-station gym costing £4m include Noel Baker
School and Sinfin School. No definite sites will be
chosen until after the council has consulted the public.
Subject to consultation and permission, work could begin
in 2011-12.
The £50m for the schemes would come from long-term
borrowing, paid back by taxpayers' money and grants from
sporting organisations. Funding that borrowing would cost
the council an additional £2.75m a year from 2013 and
£634,000 has already been worked into the proposed
budget for 2011-2, increasing to £2.2m in 2012-3.
Councillor Joe Naitta, member for leisure and culture,
said the costs could be justified as value for money,
even in light of spending cuts at the authority. He said,
"Our leisure centres are nearing the end of their
lives and if we don't invest in our facilities we will
find that a lot would not last that long."
The authority said refurbishing centres would cost it
£18m, while remodelling them on existing sites would
cost £37m. Mr Naitta said, "Just like-for-like
replacements would cost £37m, so for an extra £13m we
would get an Olympic swimming pool which could be split
into two 25m training pools and a velodrome which would
put us on the cycling map." The consultants' report
suggests that the council phases in the changes, starting
with the indoor swimming hub. It states that Queen's
Leisure Centre and the Moorways Leisure Centre should be
kept open until the new site is working.
The outdoor hub with velodrome would be constructed at
Moorways or an alternative site. Pride Park was another
option, but that would require the council to buy land.
Once the velodrome was open, the new pool would be built
in the south to make up for the loss of Moorways and the
refurbishment of Gayton would continue. Later phases
would see Woodlands School's pool refurbished, a pool
added at Springwood and investment in the Shaftesbury
Sports Centre, Normanton, with better access and changing
rooms. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jan/10)
Duckworth Square and the land where the
former Debenhams store used to stand has made a shortlist
of sites for an Olympic-sized swimming pool in Derby. A
study commissioned by the city council to see which would
be the best sites for two leisure hubs, an Olympic-sized
swimming pool and a velodrome, has picked out Becketwell
as a front runner for the swimming pool option. Also
making the shortlist for the £50m leisure strategy is
the site of the former Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. The
council has set aside money in its budget to drive the
plans forward and is not relying on direct Government funding but does need to borrow money to make it happen.
It hopes by choosing sites carefully for the scheme, it
can use that funding to regenerate key areas of the city,
such as Becketwell, at a time when private sector and
central government spending is sparse. The hospital site
scored highest because of good accessibility but a
masterplan for the city states this land would be best
used for a housing development. A series of problems were
identified with the Becketwell plot, including a
potential problem with parking, the number of different
land owners involved and the nearby conservation area.
But the report, carried out by PMP Genesis, states that
the land is one of the council's highest priorities.
Councillor Alan Grimadell, cabinet member for leisure and
culture, said, "There are several eyesore sites in
Derby and we want to see these developed where possible
and this strategy provides is with opportunities for
that. While the DRI site has come out on top, we will
also look at others, such as Becketwell. I think what we
also need to focus on is that while the velodrome is for
the people of Derby, it should also be a regional
facility and would also be able to hold concerts and
exhibitions."
For the velodrome hub, three sites have made the
shortlist. The Chaddesden Sidings land on the river bank
near Pride Park, which is owned by Network Rail, scored
the highest. Land earmarked for housing at the Manor
Kingsway site came in second place. Moorways Sports
Centre came in third place. Mr Grimadell said,
"Moorways is an important, strategic site but there
are others such as the Chaddesden Sidings and Manor
Kingsway sites which do score better and we need to look
at." The council's cabinet will consider the report
tonight before deciding whether to keep the consultants
on board for a further £45,000 and set up a board to
drive the plans forward.
If they agree, the council will start discussions with
land owners so that, by the summer, it will be able to
chose a preferred site for both the swimming pool and
velodrome hubs. Work could then begin on building the
centres in 2011-12 and the new facilities would include:
Indoor Hub:
Eight-lane, 50m pool
Teaching pool
Leisure water and flumes
Spectator area for 500
Soft play area
Cafe
Fitness gym with 100 stations
Two dance/aerobic studios
Climbing wall
250-300 parking spaces
Outdoor Hub:
250m indoor velodrome
Up to 1,000 seats for spectators
Large foyer
400m outdoor athletics track
1km closed road cycling circuit
(Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Jun/10)
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