St Sidwell's Point could be open 24 hours

The building is expected to cost £25.5 million

The final approval of the business case for the operation of the new leisure complex and the proposed procurement route was expected to be agreed at Exeter City Council’s Leisure Complex and Bus Station Programme Board on Tuesday night.

The committee went into a private session to discuss commercially sensitive information relating to the business case, but had been recommended to recommend to the city council’s executive to commence a competitive dialogue procedure for the procurement of the operator for St Sidwell’s Point with a specification based on the forecast business plan.

The total build cost will be £25,523,745, the report reveals, and it is expected that there will be 3,249 members of the gym.

But the meeting heard that the state-of-the-art new leisure complex, which will be the first Passivhaus leisure complex in the country, could be open 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.

St Sidwell’s Point is set to be open to the public by the end of 2020 and will form part of the council’s leisure portfolio.

Parkwood Leisure currently manage the leisure facilities on behalf of the council, but the council is set to run out in 2020.

A new contract will need to be procured and an operator identified by mid-2020, and the contract, which will last 15 years, will cover St Sidwell’s Point, Riverside Leisure Centre, Exeter Arena, the ISCA centre, Wonford Sports Centre, and the Northbrook Swimming Pool and Golf Course. Pyramids Leisure Centre is due to close when St Sidwell’s Point opens.

Council Director Jo Yelland presented the business plan to councillors on Tuesday night, saying that it was written based on average industry standards to set a financial income and expenditure plan, but the final details would be revealed through the procurement process.

The standard opening hours for St Sidwell’s Point would be 7am to 10pm, Monday to Friday, and 8am to 8pm on weekends, but Mrs Yelland added: “Extended opening hours will be explored as some people think it should be open 24/7.”

She said that whoever wins the contract to operate the leisure centres will have to pay the living wage, school visits could be encouraged through potentially free swimming sessions, there will be free swimming for under 7s for Exeter residents which was key to members’ hearts, but not everything included in the indicative business plan would be born out in the final business plan.

Details in the document siggested that leisure centre users would be able to obtain a car park refund, but Cllr Phil Bialyk, chairman of the committee, said it was one of a number of suggestions that might not be taken up as part of the eventual tender process, and the idea came from members of the council

Cllr Bialyk said: “We aked members what they would like to see in the business plan. It is not a wish list for Father Christmas, but what they thought should we have in.

“It is not to say we will do all of them as we will have to evaluate and cost them, but some of the ideas that more people have said have floated to the top. We haven’t gone into detail as to if it would be a £1 off if you park at the Triangle or how long you have to park for or which car parks are covered.”

Mrs Yelland added that a competitive tender process was the option that the council should support.

She said: “We are entering an interesting and competitive marketplace as there is a range of operators out there. We will be putting a desirable and competitive offer out and there will be quality operators who will want the prestige of running the first Passivhous leisure centre in the country, and the rest of the city-wide offer is attractive.

“We will be asking operators to tell us how they would operate the sports centres, and we would be asking them how they would deliver free swimming for schools in Exeter, and let them set out their strategy as to how they would do that.

“We will be asking them how they would outreach into communities that are not active and might think the brand new shiny sports centre in the city is not for them, and through the dialogue process we will establish how committed they are to the outcomes and objectives for our leisure offer we have set.

“The competitive dialogue process allows dialogues with bidders to develop solutions to meet the needs of the council.”

She said that the first stage is market engagement, some has become informally, subject to executive approval, they will be able to pursue this much more vigorously.

The second stage would be to formulate the procurement strategy and move forward with a timeline that would see the Official Journal of the European Union selection process begin in April 2019, detailed solutions brought back in September-November 2019, evaluation and shortlisting in December 2019, the final tender stage run from March to May 2020, a preferred bidder identified in June 2020, approved by the council in July 2020 with the contract award and mobilisation running from September to December 2020, when the leisure centre would open.

The procurement process would cover all the leisure centres in Exeter operated by the council.

Cllr Bialyk added: “We are trying to get the best deal for the people of Exeter.”

The main build contract for the leisure centre and bus station is expected to be signed later this year, with Kier currently in place as preferred tender to take on building the passivhaus leisure centre. No details or discussions around the contract for the build were broadcast during the meeting.

Enabling works at the site are currently taking place and will help to inform the final contract price. A report will then be drawn up for members of the council’s Programme Board to consider in November 2018.

The confirmed facility mix for St Sidwell’s Point includes:

• eight-lane Main Pool (25m)
• four-lane Learner Pool
• Multi-purpose Room/Crèche
• Gym (150 stations)
• Spin Studio
• 2 x Group Exercise Studios
• Spa – Sauna, saunarium, salt vaporium, relaxation room, manicure/pedicure station and 4 x treatment rooms
• Small soft play area
• Cafe

The business plan for the Leisure Complex provisionally includes:

• The centre is primarily for residents of Exeter
• The monthly membership rate to be used is circa £36/month
• There will be a corporate rate, junior rate, visitor rate
• School visits could be encouraged through potentially free swimming sessions
• Concessions for looked after children
• Free swimming for under 7’s for Exeter residents
• Crèche facilities
• Pay living wage
• No zero hours contracts
• Be “sugar smart” in terms of vending and catering offer
• Car parking refund for leisure centre users