Agenda and minutes

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None declared.

At a meeting of the Executive on 20 April 2022, a decision was taken to approve the draft Delivery Plan for 2022-23 – minute number 464. - which set out specific activity to be undertaken over the next year in working towards achieving the objectives set out in the Council Strategy. As part of that plan a key project under the Resilient Communities section was to ‘Develop a full options appraisal for leisure centre provision in Keswick by April 2023’.

On the 3 May 2022 a completed call-in form was submitted to the Council’s Monitoring Officer signed by Councillor Markus Campbell-Savours, Councillor Sally Lansbury and Councillor Alan Smith. The call-in indicated that the signatories felt this commitment conflicted with a motion passed by Council on 22 September 2021.

On the 24 May the Monitoring Officer, after consultation with the Co-Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny, accepted the call-in request. This meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was to consider that call-in.

Councillor Mike Johnson Leader of the Council and PH for Economic Growth, Community Development and Placemaking and Councillor Marion Fitzgerald PH for Policy, Governance and People Resources were present at the meeting on behalf of the Executive.

The Assistant Chief Executive (Policy, Performance and Economic Strategy), The Assistant Chief Executive (Innovation and Commercial) and Deputy Monitoring Officer, the Chief Officer Assets and Senior Specialist – Sport, Art and Leisure were also present to support members.

The call-in was presented to the Committee by each of the three signatories in turn.

In her opening speech Councill S Lansbury said that the community and the authority really needed to get moving on the project with a better timeline than April 2023. She said the Strategic Leisure Limited needs analysis report was completed in January therefore we could have been further down the line than we are, we would like to see a faster move on the options appraisal and be a step further on in the process by April.

She continued, there was a need for a swimming pool, laned not leisure, ideally with a main and a learning pool, as there was nowhere for adults and children to learn to swim. Councillor Lansbury said there was a real opportunity to create something special, a community hub if we think about which other facilities could be merged.

Councillor M Campbell-Savours referred to the Motion he had submitted and subsequently passed by Council in September 2021 asking for a ‘shovel ready’ project to be produced and said that the Council Strategy Delivery Plan did not meet the criteria to match that commitment. He referred to the RIBA plan of works which set out the different stages in the development of a construction project and referenced this in relation to gaining funding from Sports England. Councillor Campbell-Savours had been advised that a project would need to be at least stage 2 of its development in order to approach for funding and said in his opinion the agreed delivery plan options appraisal would not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.