To receive a presentation from the Architects and to comment on the report to be considered by the Cabinet Regeneration Sub Committee on 5 September 2017.

Councillor S Rayner presented the report to the Panel. Kevin Mist informed the Panel that after the initial report, which was presented to the CRSC in June 2016, six recommendations were made. All recommendations have been delivered. The Panel are asked to note the delivery of the six recommendations, approve the submission of a planning application for the provision of a leisure centre at Braywick Park using the concept design and recommend to full Council the approval of a capital budget of £30,881.00 (in addition to the £2 million capital budget for 2017/18) for re-provision of the Magnet Leisure Centre based on the cost plan. The presentation from the architect was shown to the panel.

Councillor Saunders informed the Panel that the design that would be shown would only be a working design, would be formulated into planning permissions which would be submitted in due course. The working design included all detailed input from the main users.

Other points made by the Panel included:

·         Further information was required about accessibility from the Town Centre to the Braywick Park. The Project team informed the Panel that they were already in contact with bus operators and also the route on the Greenway was going to be opened for cyclists.

·         The new site would be next to the Cemetery. The dignity of the cemetery needed to be considered. The Project Team had left enough space. There was a tree line already in place which would be built up further to keep the noise to a minimum. The Chairman suggested that at the Planning stage, photos of views from the cemetery be included.

·         The Walkway and Archway were very nice and a lovely aspect. Had the size of the café been considered carefully? The Project Team advised the Panel that the café seating could open up onto the street walkway and also outside so it was very flexible. It would also overlook the learning pool. The kitchen would be a large catering kitchen.

·         SportsAble had raised concerns about the disabled usability and access. The concerns were on follows:

Ø  The day of the joint panel was the first time they had seen the detailed plans.

Ø  Wheelchair users require easier access to courts, especially the basketball players as they would have two wheelchairs each.

Ø  Would there be space for spectators to watch games?

Ø  Would there be space and opportunity to televise the games?

Ø  Further conversation was required for changing and showering facilities for the disabled.

Ø  Would the outdoor surface be wheelchair friendly?

Ø  Further conversation was required about the disabled parking.

Councillor S Rayner informed the Panel that all finer points had been discussed and regular meetings were taking place with SportsAble. The Braywick Centre was a concept at present and fine tuning was still in process.

·         Was the Braywick Park Leisure Centre proofed for future demand? Was the infrastructure in place for expanding in the future? The project was at a mature conceptual design with an inductive budget in place. A study had been carried out and future proofing had been built in. The design had great flexibility.

·         Excellent to see that sustainability had been taken into account and the building had excellent UPCA levels. The annual costs to run the centre would be £82K and the Project team were working with specialists to drive the levels of savings to the 75% target.

·         The life expectancy of the centre would be 35-40 years typically.

·         What could possibly go wrong between now and completion? The Project team advised that selecting the wrong team, the wrong architect, looking only at cost and not quality and altering the budget later in the process. It was important to keep all main perimeters steady and have a clear voice.

·         Had a viewing area for dry sports been considered? The Project team considered a security concern here so only some limited controlled viewing would be possible. The design was flexible enough for additional seating to be added to view sport competitions.

·         Excellent to see swimming pool cleaning systems would be UV light based providing further hygiene.

·         What were the aspirations for the events hall? The Project team advised that the events hall was an ungraded environment with acoustics and ventilation so could be used for anything.

·         Had the traffic and road infrastructure been considered? The budget included all Road infrastructures so no more additional costs were expected. Traffic modelling had been carried out for the whole town centre in the Sports centre, at present no significant improvements would be needed to be made.

·         Would the centre be used as the Election and Emergency Centres as the Magnet currently are? Kevin Mist confirmed that the centre would be used as the Centre for Elections and Emergency.

Councillor S Rayner summed up the discussion, highlighting that this would was an exciting project for the Borough and was grateful for all input.

A named vote was carried out for the officer recommendations of

·         Notes the delivery of the recommendations in the Part II June 2016 CRSC report, see Appendix 1.

·         Approves the submission of a planning application for the provision of a leisure centre at Braywick Park using the concept design, Appendix 2.

·         Recommends to full Council the approval of a capital budget of £30,881,000 (in addition to the existing £2m capital budget for 2017/18) for re-provision of the Magnet Leisure Centre based on the cost plan, Appendix 3 (Part II).

Ten councillors voted for the Officer’s recommendations (Councillors Clark, Diment, L. Evens, Gilmore, McWilliams, Quick, C. Rayner, Shelim and Stretton) and Councillor Jones abstained from voting. 

The Panel agreed to recommend the paper as per the officers recommendations.