These figures are all taken from Newark & Sherwood District Council’s meeting minutes and the Charity Commission information for Southwell Leisure Centre Trust (SLCT). Southwell Leisure Centre Trust quote for repair has been made public.
Revenue loss on existing pool closure
Newark & Sherwood District Council (NSDC) have published figures that show that for every year the pool is closed they will pay Active4Today, who run Southwell Leisure Centre, £260k. This is to make up for the revenue, from pool users and members, that is forecast to be lost.
In very simple terms this demonstrates that repairing the pool would pay for itself within a year and then generate £260k for every subsequent year. SLCT have had a repair quote of £247k.
Asset loss if land is given to NSDC
NSDC are demanding that all the land owned by Southwell Leisure Centre Trust (SLCT) is 'gifted' to NSDC before any work or even design of the proposed new swimming pool in Southwell commences.
The SLCT land is fully occupied by the Leisure Centre, 5-a-side pitch and car parking, which are needed to make the business viable and meet the needs of the users.
NSDC are very likely to need land owned by Southwell Town Council (STC) to build a new pool, but no plans showing where the new pool will go have yet been made public, and there have only been informal discussions between NSDC and the chair and vice-chair of STC. See our previous blog for details.
If SLCT and STC give the land to NSDC there is no guarantee that they will build a new swimming pool and the Community and District, who originally raised the funds to build it, leading to the development of the Leisure Centre, will have lost a well used and valued asset.
What are the SLCT assets that NSDC want worth?
SLCT, charity ref 522301, are shown to have assets such as buildings, offices, exhibits and fixtures and fittings (“Own use assets”) worth £2.77m in the last figures available on the Charity Commission website. Pre-covid “Other assets” (such as cash and bank balances) were over £600k, proving that the trust was in good financial shape.
In October 2021, Southwell Leisure Centre entered into a lease management arrangement with Newark and Sherwood District Council. The management of the Leisure Centre was transferred to Active4Today Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary at Newark and Sherwood District Council, whereby Active4Today Limited will be responsible for the operations of the charity.
The main pool was closed on 30 October 2023 and the options and costs to reopen the pool were presented to NSDC cabinet in the report that we examine below.
NSDC - cost to build new pool
Newark & Sherwood District Council Supplementary report for Cabinet Meeting 19 December 2023. “Southwell Leisure Centre Works Update – Main Pool”
Cost | Paragraph | Item |
£12,300 | 3.8 | If a new pool is built then the old pool will be closed. This was the estimate to close the pool. |
£? | The pool would also need to be refitted and repurposed as part of the Leisure Centre facilities as well. | |
£? | 3.9 | Legal fees for SLTC and STC land being gifted to NSDC. |
£25,000 | 2.5 c) 2. | feasibility study, working up designs of a new pool “This will require a revenue budget of circa £25,000 and will only be progressed on reaching agreement on the transfer of land “ |
£260,000 per year that the pool is closed | 3.2 | to make up Active4today loss in income each year. |
£5,500,000 | 2.5 c) 2. | to build the new pool. |
£19,800,000 (£396,000 per year for 50 years) | 3.2 and 3.7 | “The £5.5m Capital budget will need to be financed by borrowing and the annual cost of borrowing will be £396,000 for 50 years” |
TOTAL £20,617,300 | (2.5 years to build completion) + legal fees + refurbishment of old pool to reuse as leisure facility |
The report included an estimate to repair the pool of £645,435 and was estimated at taking 24 weeks. We have been led to believe that the pool repair cost is about £300k with contingency and other works added. With 6 months already gone and a very short timescale of 2 years to plan and build a new pool, the cost of paying Active4Today alone (£260k x 2.5 years = £650k) covers the extensive NSDC estimate of pool repair, expected to last for a generation, and probably many more.
The pool could have been up and running by now
As reported in our previous blog, https://friendsofsouthwell.wixsite.com/swimmingpool/post/lease-docs-support-repair-of-pool, documents received from NSDC indicate that a repair of Southwell Swimming Pool is both technically and financially viable and that NSDC have a clear legal obligation to do so.
Financial analysis alone clearly demonstrates that regardless of whether a new pool is built or not, repairing the existing pool is clearly the cheapest option. FOSS are advocating for the best value solution which would enable the swimming pool to be used as soon as possible and by future generations.
It is now almost 6 months since the pool was closed by NSDC, with no plans to reopen the pool. The pool could have been repaired in this time and restored the Leisure Centre to full use for Southwell and the local district.
The evaluation of building of a new pool is a completely separate decision, given the long remaining life of the existing pool, and that a repaired pool generates more funds towards a new pool in the meantime.
Of course the answer to the question “Who pays £20 million for a £5.5 million pool?” is that the local community do, even though we have repeatedly requested the cheaper, quicker option of a repair.