Member Group on the Leisure

MEMBER GROUP ON THE LEISURE CONNECTION CONTRACT

Notes of a Meeting held on Thursday 14th February 2008 At the Parklands Leisure Centre, Okehampton

Present: Councillors: Mr N Morgan (Chairman); Mrs K A Clish-Green; Mrs C Marsh

Officers: Mrs C Aubertin; Mr T Beckett; Mr N Payne; Mr A Rose

53. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received from Mr D G Bater, Mr C Jenkins and from Mr K Williams.

54. NOTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING The notes of the meeting held on 10th January 2008, were confirmed as a correct record.

55. MATTER ARISING (i) Feedback from meeting on 8th November 2007 (Note 43(i) : 10.01.2008) Terry Beckett reported that he had arranged further meetings regarding contingency planning for possible alternative management options for the two leisure centres should anything untoward happen with the current contract. Terry would make a further report at the next meeting.

56. OUTCOME OF MEETING WITH PETER HOWELLS (13/02/2008) Nick Payne reported on the second meeting held yesterday with Mr Peter Howells, Operations Director for Leisure Connection, at which the new Area Manager Mr Jeremy Bradbury also attended.

The meeting had been encouraging and there was some confidence that Mr Howells was committed to achieving improvements in Leisure Connection’s execution of the contract. Mr Howells had reported that the refinancing of Leisure Connection had provided long term stability and one of the major investors, Credit Suisse, were looking for a long term return on their investment and would remain with Leisure Connection provided it was profitable to do so.

During the course of the meeting Mr Howells agreed that Leisure Connection would fund up to half the cost of replacing the acoustic tiles at Meadowlands (the total cost estimated at being between £50, 000 and £70, 000). This work, if funding could be secured, would take place later in the calendar year and it would require the pool being closed for up to 3 weeks.

At the suggestion of Mr Howells, there would be a further meeting in May 2008.

It was agreed that the signs looked promising for an improving service from Leisure Connection, nevertheless, Terry should continue researching possible contingency measures for the time being. 57. MEADOWLANDS IMPROVEMENTS Terry Beckett reported that work on installing the new boilers would begin on 4th March 2008 and would take about two weeks. The installation would be phased so that the remaining old boilers would stay in operation until the new ones were commissioned. At the same time the new UV water treatment plant would be installed. Whilst Leisure Connection felt unable to help fund the installation of the new gas boilers they had agreed subsequently, on a ‘profit share’ type of agreement with a proportion of the energy cost savings being transferred to the Council.

The cubicles were also scheduled for replacement during March and it was hoped that the toilet cubicles/vanity areas would be included in this work.

58. PARKLANDS DEFECTS UPDATE Terry Beckett reported that the Borough Engineer had met with Burke Rickhards who had, in turn, responded very positively to the meeting and had written the same day to the principle contractors involved in building the Parklands complex. It was anticipated that this action would go a long way to resolving a number of outstanding issues.

A meeting had been arranged with a specialist engineer to investigate the alleged high humidity in the void area below the swimming pool and the resulting report would be sent to Kier Construction to rectify the cause if identified as being a construction fault. Similarly, investigations were to be undertaken to identify the cause of the high levels of condensation appearing in the public gallery which was currently closed to the public because of it.

An electrician had been engaged to investigate the power supply to the lighting of both the tennis courts and the bowling green as it appeared insufficient electrical power was being supplied to enable both lighting systems to operate at the same time. The investigation would determine whether this was a design or an installation fault and would suggest a remedy.

59. CUSTOMER COMMENTS The Customer Comments/Complaints form for January 2008 for both Parklands and Meadowlands were received and noted.

60. USAGE FIGURES The usage figures for both Parklands and Meadowlands were received and it was noted that there was an increase in the number of people using the facilities in January 2008 as compared with January 2007 with Parklands showing an increase of 2,102 and Meadowlands a much smaller increase of just 186.

61. BALANCED SCORECARD Arising from Note No. 51 – 10.01.2008, Terry Beckett circulated a revised draft version of the proposed Balanced Scorecard. The Scorecard had been developed using Leisure Connection’s business plan and 3-month action plan and the Council’s Covalent expert had been asked to develop the Scorecard further and, ideally, to include a number of trigger points to provide quality information. It was proposed that the Balanced Scorecard would come into operation on 1st April 2008.

62. PRESENTATION BY OCRA OCRA – the Okehampton Community Recreation Association – gave a presentation on the wide and varied programme of activities it offered for children and young people living in Okehampton and the surrounding area. OCRA activities covered both school term and holiday periods, sports specialists developing and presenting programmes and activities in local schools and an outreach programme aimed at many of the villages located around Okehampton. OCRA also worked in partnership with Leisure Connection in making effective use of the Parklands Leisure Centre.

At the end of the presentation OCRA requested that the Council’s financial support of £2,750 per year be increased. Nick Payne advised that a formal request should be submitted in September 2008. OCRA then made reference to their ‘vision’ of renewing the all weather pitch, securing more community pitches and a possible changing/community use building.

63. DATE OF NEXT MEETING Thursday 13th March 2008 : 4.30 pm : Kilworthy Park, Tavistock

(The Meeting terminated at 6.20 pm.)