Purpose

Cabinet to consider the petition that was presented at Full
Council on 18/07/24, and to review the background of the Council's decision to
withdraw from the management agreement.

 

Content

Decision

(a)     
That the contents of the report be noted.

 

(b)     
That, Cabinet notes that the Council already contributed
£276,160 towards condition works prior to 31 March 2024 and a further £604,407
had been provided to the Trust as part of the exit arrangements, to be spent by
March 2025

 

(c)      
That, Cabinet notes that as the Council had no
legal interest in the leisure centre, the future use of the facility was a
matter for the Trust to determine.

 

(d)      
That, Cabinet agreed to progress and
accelerate the Leisure Strategy to ensure there was a strategic and informed
approach to leisure provision which would deliver the Council priorities of
building stronger and healthier communities

 

(e)      
Cabinet agreed that, in the event that the trust brings the swimming pool back into operation, to
use reasonable endeavours to work with the trust and community groups to
identify ways in which the pool can be made available for school and community
group usage. 

 

(f)        
Recognising that realistic, affordable solutions were available to
facilitate public use of the
leisure centre, Cabinet committed to providing reasonable officer support to
the trust to assist them in achieving that outcome. 

Reason
for the decision

The
council was in the process of developing a new leisure strategy that would
enable it to consider and adopt a more strategic and informed approach to the
way it operated its leisure facilities and services.

 

The
council did not own the Queen Elizabeth Leisure Centre and its leisure spend
across the East Dorset area was considerably higher than other areas of Dorset
Council. A key aim of the leisure strategy would be to address this issue.

 

Feedback
from local swim groups had highlighted the value of the swimming pool at QELC
and the importance of being able to access it. This included Wimborne Wagtails
Swimming Club for the Disabled, who for 30 years had provided swimming sessions
to a diverse group of disabled swimmers of all ages with physical, learning and
hidden disabilities. 

  

Dorset
Council had contributed funds to enable improvements to the swimming pool air
handling system, pool plant, pool hall roof and wet side changing areas. The
trust had stated that the pool air handling and roof works were being looked at
and being worked towards. They already had experience of operating a local
school swimming pool with school and community group use and had suggested a
similar model for QELC. This could complement the other sports facilities which
were currently being made available for school and community club use. Dorset
Council would be fully supportive of this proposal.