Agenda item

To receive the report of the Strategic Director for Place.

 

Councillors Asvachin and Begley declared an interest in this item they are both trustees of the Wonford Community Hub. Both Councillors left the room and did not return for the remainder of the meeting.

 

The Leader moved, and Councillor Wright seconded the recommendations.

 

The Strategic Director for Place presented the report, making the following points:

 

·        the project had been paused due to insufficient funding previously;

·        Sport England had had a major contribution in the design process;

·        a variety of options have been looked at, and all costed between four and seven million pounds;

·        only two of the proposed options were considered supportable by Sport England;

·        the proposed design was not too different from previously granted planning permission;

·        pictures created with CGI showed the outlook through the development onto Ludwell Valley Park;

·        no new planning permission was required, but amendments to the existing planning permission would be needed;

·        the business case could not be completed without the design being confirmed;

·        to receive the funding agreement, Exeter City Council needed to match funding provided and deliver the project by Summer 2028;

·        this was a critical project, and is eligible for CIL funding;

·        after four years, the income generation would break even, which would be helped by not using capital borrowing;

·        the process could not be started until funding was secured,;

·        they would be looking for opportunities to limit carbon emissions;

·        the gateway to Ludwell Valley Park was a key part of the design; and

·        there was potential for broader community use, which could help to improve health outcomes.

 

In response to questions from Members, the Strategic Director for Place provided the following responses:

 

·        there would be minor amendments to the planning permission which would be delegated to officers;

·        the recommendation for this report had not changed following the funding announcement last week;

·        he would be meeting with the Place Partnership (Sport England) Manager to finalise decisions;

·        transport for the site would be dealt with through the planning process;

·        the application to amend the planning permission had yet to be submitted but there had been lots of engagement with the planning team;

·        s106 funding was included in the overall funding  of the scheme;

·        in order to complete the project, part of the building needed to be demolished so the lease needed to be ended;

·        a business plan would include the leisure services, and community element;

·        conversations would be had with the community to establish how this would work for them;

·        the tender process and costs would be dealt with as part of the next stage of the project;

·        5% contingency was the industry norm and the risk would be managed through the design process;

·        a risk remained in the procurement process but ultimately costs could be revised if necessary;

·        Devon County Council would be involved in the conversation about the lease;

·        Exeter City Council offered a subsidised leisure service to try and ensure that leisure was accessible; and

·        there were not a large number of external sources for funding, but there was still an opportunity for grant sources, however, this funding had been identified with no additional cost or borrowing.

 

The meeting was adjourned at 19:16 and resumed at 19:24.

 

Councillor Moore, seconded by Councillor Read, moved an additional recommendation:

 

·        To ensure future local community involvement in the use of the building, a partnership agreement is signed with the community organisation stakeholders of the new centre, and this is reported to Council.

 

The Lord Mayor advised Councillor Moore that this was an inappropriate amendment in accordance with Standing Order 10(6).

 

During debate, Councillor Moore made the following points:

 

·        she clarified that she had not said there was a lack of community engagement;

·        she wanted to commitment from the Leader on the levels of community involvement and the partnership between the Council and the community;

·        the community needed a real say in how the project would work in the future; and

·        she would like real commitment about how this community involvement was going to be managed in a transparent way.

 

During debate Members made the following comments:

 

·        the community were fully behind the project and Members could be assured that there would be community support;

·        there were concerns about the constraint of the application and that the Council may end up contributing more than £6 million;

·        there was no guarantee that it would be possible to find someone that could take on the work and also deliver it by summer 2028;

·        residents in Wonford, and wider Exeter, deserved the type of facility that was being discussed;

·        this project had evolved over a number of years, and the community had been engaged throughout;

·        a soft entry into a more active lifestyle through community and shared spaces could be provided with this project;

·        funding was being used in the right way and this money was exactly for this purpose;

·        Sports England liked this project and wanted it to happen;

·        this was a high risk project and it was important to get it right, even if that meant losing the funding from Sports England;

·        it was the Councils statutory duty to ensure public money was being well used;

·        a change in trustees could be a risk to the project;

·        this project was an example of great piece partnership working;

·        officers had work extremely hard on this project and the work with Sports England had required a large amount of work;

·        this project spoke to key ambitions of the community support in the city, and to health and wellbeing through sport and leisure;

·        the community of Wonford had been waiting for this for a very long time and it had been years in the making;

·        it was important to find local contractors;

·        it was heart-warming to hear about the aim for future commitment and community involvement;

·        this needed to deliver real community involvement and benefit;

·        the only alternative to this project was for the building to remain as was and need to be closed eventually; and

·        Wonford Community and Leisure Centre was built in the 1980s and something needed to be done.

 

In summing up, the Leader, Councillor Bialyk, made the following points:

 

·        Wonford Community and Leisure Centre had been built in the 80s to address a need in that area;

·        residents were looking forward to this happening;

·        this was a joint venture, and the community would still be running their community services;

·        10.25 of the report made it clear how this would be dealt with; and

·        approving this would show that it was worth putting money into Exeter because it would go where it was needed.

 

Following a vote the recommendations were CARRIED.