Agenda item

To receive a report from Councillor Wood, the Portfolio Holder Leisure Services and Healthy Living.

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure Services and Healthy Living, Councillor Wood, presented his report drawing attention to the following points:

·        statistics showed that leisure services were delivering to expectations; and

·        indications of the sort of work being carried out and wider projects being delivered were contained within the report, including extending active travel opportunities.

The Portfolio Holder responded to Members’ questions in the following terms:

·        the live link to Live and Move gave further detail and there were filter options on the landing page where data could be interrogated by area as well as other factors;

·        physical activity hadn’t recovered from the pandemic drop;

·        the number of visits to St Sidwells Point was 1.8million since it opened and 200,000 transactions in the cafe;

·        he agreed that there was an error on page 19 in that the path in Newtown would be altered as there would be a change of desire line with new buildings planned;

·        the City Sisters project was related to the This Girl Can national programme which recognised girls as statistically a group who required to be engaged with around physical activity and this was based at the Wonford centre but could be spread across other projects as demand had outstripped capacity;

·        with regard to the timeline for Riverside solar panel installations, it was necessary to manage impact on users of works being carried out. The building was in three modules with two parts having already had roofs replaced and this work would complete the project. Careful plans were being put in place to minimise impact on centre users;

·        work on Governance arrangements for the Wonford Hub were ongoing but he was not involved directly. There had been discussions regarding involvement of the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector as well as community leadership and associated capacity. Regarding clarity around the commitment required for the Wonford Hub the councillor could email him and he would raise with the appropriate officer. Planning permission had been gained and more detail would be available in due course;

·        his understanding was that once capital spend was committed it would continue through the LGR process. There wasn’t a contractor on-site at Wonford yet as funding wasn’t entirely secured. The project may not be completed whilst Exeter City Council existed but it would be underway;

·        recruitment was challenging but rates of pay and terms and conditions were favourable at the council but there was a limited pool of staff and often students took on roles and they may not remain in the city once their studies were complete;

·        the steering group for King George V had the football foundation involved who had presented explanations of the difficulties with some types of infill;

·        Exeter City Community Trust(ECCT) would be taking on the Council’s role of managing the site, overseeing current use and managing use during the works;

·        ECCT would not have sole use, licensing of the space meant that teams would know what would be available to them when they booked;

·        Playzones were Football Foundation funded programmes which provided new and outdoor mini-pitches for football and outdoor multi-use areas for activities;

·        statistics had been collected when Northbrook was open and all of the user organisations had been successfully moved into either St Sidwell’s Point or Riverside.

The Chair clarified that the Live and Move report coming to the committee in June would be better placed to give details of the timeline and fundraising situation for the Wonford Hub and that this was a high-level Portfolio Holder report rather than a detailed operational report.

The moved, seconded by Councillor Miller-Boam, that the committee note the report which following a unanimous vote was CARRIED.