Issue - meetings

The Committee heard from the Assistant Director of Finance and Property Services and Section 151 Officer regarding a report aiming to present to members the high level business case for a swimming pool at Market Rasen Leisure Centre and to determine the next steps. It was explained that the report presented a business case that was not considered to be financially viable. Whilst the operational costs were estimated to achieve a profit of circa £30k per annum from year 3, this did not include the cost of borrowing. As the Council had no reserves to support this investment and no grant funding had been identified, funding would be met from borrowing. The additional cost of borrowing could be between £350k and £500k and made the business case unviable. Additional costs of construction and borrowing would need to be understood if, in line with the Council’s strategy, it was necessary to mitigate environmental impacts.

The Chairman opened discussions to Members of the Committee and Councillor S. Bunney addressed the meeting, noting that whilst discussions were focused on a swimming pool at the Market Rasen Leisure Centre, provision was actually for the eastern part of the district as a whole. He expressed disappointment that the Town Council and Parish Councils in the area had not been consulted as a part of the current presentations and noted that the data used within the report appeared to be outdated, for example with population data quoted from 2011. He highlighted the benefits of, not just a swimming pool, but greater outreach programmes across the district, emanating from the Market Rasen Leisure Centre, and the need for leisure provision to be greatly improved especially for those with mobility issues or unable to travel out of the area. He suggested alternative options for raising capital, such as changing the investment policy of the Council, as well as the need to consider Levelling Up Fund opportunities outside of Gainsborough.  He concluded his address to the Committee by proposing an alternate recommendation, that being as follows:

“The paper as presented does not include sufficient up to date details for Members to make an informed decision in the future of a swimming pool and a full leisure programme for the Eastern segment of West Lindsey District Council based at Market Rasen Leisure Centre. Officers, in conjunction with Market Rasen Town Council, are asked to work on a detailed business case for such a provision that includes up to date population and economic data and the additional details of co-benefits relating to health and welfare and environmental factors. The business case is also to include various options for the capital financing of the project and the input that each would have on West Lindsey if they were to be adopted. As a time scale, I would like to suggest that we get a report back on this in 9 months time, although I do understand that with everything else that’s going on, it’s a bit of work that might ultimately  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58