£29m Shrewsbury Sports Village project endorsed despite how it will ‘look to the man in the street’
A qualified endorsement of £29million plans to transform Shrewsbury Sports Village has been sent to Shropshire Council’s leadership.
Councillors flirted with the idea of recommending abandoning the project as a committee member wondered what people would think of a near-bankrupt council spending so much money.
But the economy and environment overview and scrutiny committee was told that the there are key reasons why the council needs to invest in its ageing leisure centres.
Councillor David Minnery (Liberal Democrats, Market Drayton South) said people watching the meeting would think they had “stepped into a different universe.”
“Here we are, saying publicly that we cannot balance the books.
“We are already looking at cuts all over the place. How is it going to look to the man in the street?”
He added: “I just think it is the wrong time. It’s a lovely scheme but I think this is not the time to do it.”
Officials told the committee on Wednesday that it hoped to get something which would be the “quality of a John Lloyd Leisure Centre at one third of the price.”
The officer added that “I expect that we will take customers off John Lloyd.”
The sports village is in the Sundorne area of Shrewsbury which is one of the most deprived in the county, the meeting heard. It is hoped that people will be helped to get healthier.
The committee was told that current leisure centres were costing money and the new facility would lead to savings in maintenance. The £230,000 cost of repairing a leak at Market Drayton Swimming & Fitness Centre was given as an example of ageing infrastructure.
Plans, due to be considered at a planning committee meeting next week, show it will have a range of leisure facilities topped off by the county’s only 25m (and six centimetres) competitive swimming pool.
They are hopeful that the costs to the council would be reduced if the scheme is allocated money from a council £29million Community Infrastructure Levy pot.
Officers are also hopeful that it might get funding from Sport England “if its rules change”.
Council leader Councillor Heather Kidd (Liberal Democrats, Chirbury & Worthen) said they want to “safeguard leisure”.
“For me that makes it worthwhile even though this is in Shrewsbury.”
Reform UK group leader Dawn Husemann (Claverley and Worfield) quizzed officials on financial aspects of the project, including estimate assumptions, the impact on revenue costs and if companies could be fined if they failed to deliver.
“Are they going to be marking their own homework again?” she asked wondering whether there was “optimism bias” in the plans.
She was told that officials “feel confident” about the companies involved.
“Control is vital and I am responsible,” the official said. “I feel confident that we will come in on budget and on time.”
The meeting was told that a project in Whitchurch had “far exceeded” their hopes for membership and the new Shrewsbury scheme’s pool would last “100 years” while the buildings are set to survive for “at least 40 years.”
The project has already cost the council some £2 million for a “design and build team” and long delays in the project would pile on the costs of rising inflation, the committee heard.
The council’s cabinet and full council will still have to confirm the project go-ahead even if planning permission is granted, the committee heard.
