Decision details

The Cabinet will be asked to consider proposals in relation to a development brief for the Axe Street site and the method of procurement for developing the car park

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration presented a report on the proposed development of a new leisure centre in Barking Town Centre as part of a streamlining of Council-provided indoor leisure facilities in the Borough.

The Cabinet Member commented on the success of the new Becontree Heath Leisure Centre which opened earlier this year and referred to the key aspects of the business case for a similar project in Axe Street, adjacent to the current site of Abbey Sports Centre and with a planned opening in Spring 2014.  As part of the business case, the Goresbrook Leisure Centre would be closed at some point after the 2012 Olympics and the site sold on the open market while the Abbey Sports Centre would be closed when the new Axe Street centre was opened to the public.  Officers clarified the funding and borrowing proposals and their correlation to the off-setting of the capital receipts from the disposal of the Goresbrook and Abbey Sports Centres.

In response to an issue raised by Councillor McDermott regarding the Elderberry’s Club that met at Goresbrook Leisure Centre, the Divisional Director of Culture and Sport confirmed that the Council would be consulting with all current users over the coming months with a view to ensuring their continued access to leisure facilities within the Borough.

Cabinet agreed:-

  (i)  Prudential borrowing payments of an estimated £1.132m per annum in order to build a new leisure centre in Axe Street costing £12.98m, whilst noting that payments would reduce to around £289,000 per annum following the closure and disposal of the existing Abbey and Goresbrook Leisure Centres;

  (ii)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to undertake the procurement for the design and construction stages of the new leisure centre;

 (iii)  That the site to the north of Axe Street, as shown hatched on the plan at Appendix 1 to the report, be the preferred location of the new leisure centre;

 (iv)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources to place the Goresbrook Leisure Centre on the open market with a view to completing the disposal in December 2012, the sale terms to be agreed in consultation with the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services;

  (v)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Divisional Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to conclude all legal agreements and enter into a Memorandum of Understanding with the London Thames Gateway Development Corporation regarding the transfer of the Captain Cook Public House Site to the Council in order to facilitate the construction of the new leisure centre;

 (vi)  To authorise the Corporate Director of Finance and Resources, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Adult and Community Services, to seek to include a cinema in the new leisure centre complex as an alternative to a sports hall space, in the event that it was considered to be in the best interests of the development and that a third party could be identified to operate the facility at no worse than financially neutral cost to the Council; and

(vii)  To note that two further reports would be presented to Cabinet, the first setting out the potential uses and disposal of the existing Abbey Sports Centre and Goresbrook Leisure Centre sites at the appropriate time; and the second to appoint the preferred contractor for the new leisure centre development, including the final specification, the actual dates of construction, the findings and resulting actions from the Equality Impact Assessment relating to the scheme and the outcome of the cinema feasibility study.