To receive a presentation from the Council’s Head of Community and Environmental Services on the future of leisure provision in Rushmoor and to consider the next steps (presentation slides attached).

The Board received a presentation from the Council’s Head of Community and Environmental Services which set out the current leisure offer and potential options for the future.  The Board was advised on the sports and leisure facilities across the Borough and was provided with details on the current contracts for Farnborough Leisure Centre, Aldershot Indoor Pools and Aldershot Lido.  The outcomes required for future leisure management contracts were to reduce costs, invest in the facilities, increase participation and reduce the risk to the Council.  There were a number of areas highlighted which would need to be considered when the Council looked at future leisure provision.  The current activities provided had been reviewed and details were available on the number of visits, space occupied to provide the activity and the income and expenditure which would need to be considered to identify the feasibility of activities. Provision of activities from other providers in the Borough would also need to be considered to identify the demand from users against the current provision.

The Lido Review Working Group, Friends of Aldershot Lido and the Leisure and Youth Policy and Review Panel had carried out some work to develop a vision for the Aldershot Pools Complex and some soft market testing had been carried out in 2017.  A conditions survey had also been undertaken and the results were due at the end of July 2018.  A number of options had been discussed for the future leisure management contract for Aldershot Lido which included the addition of adventure golf, reduction in pool size and addition of a splash pad.  Options for the Aldershot Indoor Pool would be to either retain the current building with improvements or to build a new facility.

There had been some feasibility work carried out on options for the Farnborough Leisure Centre in 2017 and a conditions survey undertaken which was due to be reported on at the end of July 2018.  Options available for Farnborough Leisure Centre could include retaining the current building with improvements, refurbishment or to build a new facility.  The Leisure Centre was currently located in the Civic Quarter and, following some research, it was suggested that if a new facility was provided, it should remain within the Civic Quarter.  A preferred investment partner had been identified for the Civic Quarter and, if approved, would work with the Council to agree concepts, capacity and site specific objectives.  The Civic Quarter timetable would need to work with the leisure procurement timetable.

The Farnborough Leisure Centre and Aldershot Pools Complex contracts were due for renewal on 1 February 2019.  The Civic Quarter masterplan timetable had been revised and required an extension of the leisure management contract to 31 March 2021.  Negotiations were underway with Places for People to extend the contracts.  The Board was asked to consider how it could be involved in working on the future leisure provision and contract agreement.

The Board discussed the presentation and there were a number of questions raised on specific areas relating to both Aldershot Pools Complex and Farnborough Leisure Centre.  Areas which were suggested that needed to be looked at included:

·      Look at leisure facilities in other areas of the country to learn lessons from their experience

·      Consider recent leisure facility rebuilds and refurbishments to see which had worked better

·      Look at trends nationally and locally to identify demand for activities

·      Consider the population increase over next 10-15 years when assessing demand

·      Consider some short-term improvements for Aldershot Lido as part of the contract extension including additional car parking and automated ticketing to speed up the entrance process and avoid long queues

The Board AGREED that a task and finish group should be established to consider the future leisure facilities provision and contracts.  It was agreed that group membership would not be limited to members of the Board and a call would go out to the political groups to put forward nominations.  The group would be made up of six members and would be chaired by either the Chairman or one of the Vice-Chairmen of the Board.  The group would report back to the Board when policy decisions were required.  Terms of reference would be established to set out the aim of the group and the timescale for delivery.