Issue - meetings

Leisure Centre

Meeting: 02/09/2014 - Council (Item 144)

144 Leisure Centre pdf icon PDF 976 KB

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Community Direction).

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Morrell, seconded by Councillor Richards, MOVED that this item be deferred to allow for consideration of the amended recommendations. Councillor Batty and a further seven members stood to request that voting on the motion be recorded. The vote was recorded as follows:

 

Councillors Allen, Batty, Camamile, Chastney, Ladkin, Morrell, Richards, Smith, Sprason, Sutton and Ward voted FOR the motion (11);

 

Councillors Bannister, Bill, Bray, Cartwright, Cope, Crooks, Mrs Hall, Mr Hall, Hodgkins, Hulbert, Inman, Lynch, Mayne, Moore, Nichols, Taylor and Witherford voted AGAINST the motion (17);

 

Councillor Lay abstained from voting.

 

The MOTION was therefore declared LOST.

 

The Leader of the Council then presented and moved the progress report on the delivery of the new Hinckley Leisure Centre which included the position following site investigation work, mitigation required and related budget implications. Following consideration of the same report by the Scrutiny Commission and recommendations of that body, meetings had been held between representatives of the Developer, the Council, Hinckley Swimming Club, the Amateur Swimming Association and Leicestershire & Rutland Sport and as a result an addendum report, with revised recommendations, had been circulated to members in the supplementary agenda. The revisions to the recommendations were to add the provision of ‘raised ends’ to the pool to be funded within the existing cost envelope, to consider the inclusion of a ‘moveable floor’ in relation to the associated financial implications as outlined in the addendum report, and amendments to recommendation 2.11 in light of the further considerations outlined.

 

Councillor Bray, seconded by Councillor Lynch, proposed an AMENDMENT to that in the addendum report as follows:

 

            “that, taking into account the discussions officers have now held with Hinckley Swimming Club, the following revised set of recommendations be approved by Council:

 

              i.        Endorse and acknowledge the importance of the new centre as a major community facility for the Borough.

             ii.        Note the progress towards facilitating the delivery of the new Hinckley Leisure Centre since Council’s selection of the preferred bidder in January 2014.

            iii.        Note the outcomes of the recent ground investigation survey carried out following the demolition of the former council offices on Argents Mead.

           iv.        Note that despite the additional capital costs associated with ground works, the gross management fee payable to the Council under contract will remain unchanged at an average of £922,634 per annum over the twenty-year contract. This is £382,000 per annum more than the alternative bidder, or £7,640,000 more over the life of the contract.

            v.        Agree to a capital allocation of £889,678.42, as detailed in section 5, to address the unforeseen ground works to allow for the construction of the new Leisure Centre.

           vi.        In light of the wider implications for the Capital Programme, agree that the decision on the most appropriate method of funding the capital cost in 5 above be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive (Corporate Direction) in consultation with the Executive Member for Finance.

          vii.        Members note that the Hub Future Rental Management Reserve will be replenished from in-year underspends in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 144


Meeting: 17/07/2014 - Scrutiny Commission (Item 99)

99 Leisure Centre

Verbal update.

Minutes:

Members were informed that, whilst the original reason for calling this meeting was to provide an update on the leisure centre and report the findings of ground condition assessments following demolition of the former council offices, full information was not yet available in order to hold a full debate and therefore the Extraordinary council meeting scheduled for 29 July had been cancelled and a report on the leisure centre would be brought to a Scrutiny Commission in August and Council in early September.

 

It was explained that the tender process had been carried out on the basis of normal ground conditions, as was the standard context in such processes. Following the demolition of the former offices on Argents Mead, initial work had showed that the ground conditions were softer than ‘normal’ and gas had also been found on site. Whilst the levels of CO2 found were not dangerous, it was felt that, as a public authority, there was a duty of care to neutralise the area.

 

Officers reported that, due to the ground conditions, piling would be necessary. Due to the historic nature of the area, the piling would be of low vibration due to its drilling style and the Environmental Health service was happy that it would not create excessive noise.

 

Members were reminded that there was a £0.5m contingency but that it was anticipated that the work required may exceed this. All figures would be brought to the August meeting.

 

It was agreed that a full report would be brought to the August meeting which would answer questions asked previously by members and asked of officers outside of the meeting as well as questions raised at this meeting, including:

 

-          the suitability of the pool for competition;

-          the additional complications due to the moveable floor;

-          the extension of the current contract with SLM or operating of the current leisure centre by the new contractor.

 

It was noted that the relevant experts would be in attendance at the August meeting.