£18m strategy will create new leisure facilities
10 January 2012
Manchester City Council has unveiled an outline £18 million strategy which would see three outdated older pools with high running costs replaced with state-of-the-art leisure facilities.
The proposals are set out in a report which will be considered by the Communities and Neighbourhoods Overview and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 10 January and by Council's Executive on Wednesday 18 January.
Significant investment has been invested in new community leisure facilities in Manchester over the last 10 years but the report identifies older buildings in Levenshulme, Miles Platting and Chorlton which have high running costs, offer poor value for money and do not meet modern standards.
The report argues that there is a compelling case to develop new facilities in Chorlton, Beswick and Levenshulme to provide high quality facilities and services within the district centre's while making year-on-year operational savings. This echoes the successful model adopted elsewhere in the city in places such as Wythenshawe Forum.
The proposals involve the creation of a new joint leisure and library centre in the centre of Chorlton, development of a new leisure centre in Beswick - to replace Miles Platting Pool - and the development of a joint leisure and library centre, in the Levenshulme District Centre.
If approved, the strategy - which would cost approximately £18 million will be seeking to develop funding bids to Sport England and other sports national governing bodies. In addition, a variety of funding sources will be explored including investment from Manchester City Football Club, land sales, developer contributions and prudential borrowing by the Council.
The proposals would increase the number of Manchester residents within 20 minutes walk or public transport travel time of a swimming pool - a goal recognised by Sport England and the Amateur Swimming Association - from 91 per cent to 97 per cent.
Councillor Mike Amesbury, Executive Member for Culture and Leisure, said: "These innovative proposals will mean state-of-the-art leisure and library facilities for residents of the Levenshulme, Chorlton and East Manchester areas. Just as significantly, they will save money over time in maintainenance and running costs."
Members of the Executive will be asked to endorse the emerging strategy in principle to allow detailed work to commence on each of the proposals.
