Issue - meetings

Report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development to follow.

Decision made (unanimously):

1.    That Cabinet approves the development of the Playing Pitch Hub project to be located at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre in line with the budget allocated within the Council’s Capital programme.

2.    That Cabinet approves the submission of a Football Foundation bid for the Playing Pitch Hub project in January or April 2021 with the objective of obtaining partnership funding for the project.

3.    That Cabinet authorises Officers to carry out an appropriate procurement exercise to seek a suitable Contractor to carry out the work of building the new Playing Pitch Hub.

4.    That Officers will bring back to Cabinet the final business plan for the Playing Pitch Hub project along with final costings and site plan of the proposed Playing Pitch Hub pitches.

5.    That Cabinet requests that Officers bring back the Sports Playing Pitch Hub project to a further Cabinet to award the construction contract in line with the procurement rules of the Authority.

The Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Leisure presented a report of the Director of Neighbourhoods and Development setting out the Playing Pitch Hub project. The report outlined the scope, location, cost and timeframe for the project and sought permission to develop the project to the point of achieving full planning permission and tendering the project. The report also sought approval to submit an application to the Football Foundation in January or April 2021 for funding towards the overall cost of the project.

There were a number of questions and comments on the report. Concern was expressed regarding pollution levels due to proximity to the M6 motorway. It was agreed Cllr Mrs Smith to be provided with relevant information obtained from Lancashire County Council Highways Department.

Decision made (unanimously):

1.    That Cabinet approves the development of the Playing Pitch Hub project to be located at Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre in line with the budget allocated within the Council’s Capital programme.

2.    That Cabinet approves the submission of a Football Foundation bid for the Playing Pitch Hub project in January or April 2021 with the objective of obtaining partnership funding for the project.

3.    That Cabinet authorises Officers to carry out an appropriate procurement exercise to seek a suitable Contractor to carry out the work of building the new Playing Pitch Hub.

4.    That Officers will bring back to Cabinet the final business plan for the Playing Pitch Hub project along with final costings and site plan of the proposed Playing Pitch Hub pitches.

5.    That Cabinet requests that Officers bring back the Sports Playing Pitch Hub project to a further Cabinet to award the construction contract in line with the procurement rules of the Authority.

Reasons for decision

In 2019 the findings of a refreshed Playing Pitch Strategy were adopted as part of the Council’s overall planning framework. The Playing Pitch Strategy outlines a strategic approach to ensuring the future provision of outdoor playing pitches meets local community needs against a background of projected housing growth. The Playing Pitch Strategy has identified a shortfall of two full size 3^rd Generation (3G) football pitches in the Borough. This decision is about developing a project to provide those two 3G pitches, along with the refurbishment of Bamber Bridge Leisure Centre and building the necessary ancillary facilities to support the project.

Alternative options considered and rejected

Alternative options were to do-nothing or to do the project without doing a funding application to the Football Foundation. The do-nothing option would not realise a recommendation of the formally adopted Playing Fields Strategy and one of the projects identified in the Corporate Plan. The do-nothing option would also fail to deliver on a key plank of the Council’s newly emerging Leisure Facilities Strategy. To not do a Football Foundation application would miss out on the opportunity of bringing external funding into the Borough. Therefore, these options were rejected.