Members received the report of the Head of Neighbourhood Services which outlined the draft Rother Health, Well-Being and Leisure Facilities Strategy for Members’ consideration, prior to public consultation and final approval by Cabinet and full Council.

Cabinet, in July 2020, had approved the suspension of the project in the Corporate Plan 2014 to develop the former Bexhill High School site as a leisure destination, which consisted of building a new leisure centre including a swimming pool and residential housing, given the COVID-19 pandemic, its impact on leisure facilities and future use, and uncertainty surrounding Council finances. It was agreed that a new contract to maintain existing leisure services up to 31 March 2024 would be procured.

The new leisure management contract for Bexhill Leisure Centre and Bexhill Leisure Pool, operated by Freedom Leisure (FL), commenced on 1 April 2021 and was due to expire on 31 March 2024. The separate Rye Sports Centre contract, also operated by FL, was due to expire on 31 March 2026. The buildings in Bexhill were in need of major refurbishment or replacement and it was therefore important that a strategy was agreed for the provision of appropriate leisure facilities for the future.

On 10 January 2022, Cabinet approved the appointment of a leisure strategist to complete market research on residents’ use and requirements from  leisure facilities across the district and on health and well-being in general to inform a draft Health, Well-Being and Leisure Facilities Strategy that was realistic and achievable, and supported an active and healthy lifestyle.  The draft Rother Health, Well-Being and Leisure Facilities Strategy was attached at Appendix B to the report for Members’ consideration and amendments prior to public consultation.  Members were led through the Strategy by Rachel Fowler, Managing Director, Strategic Leisure Limited who completed the independent market research  and drafted the Strategy report

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and the following points were noted during the discussions:

•     leisure facilities were part of an overall health and well-being strategy and Members felt that the current title of the Strategy was misleading.  Members therefore recommended and agreed that Cabinet consider amending the title of the Strategy to ‘Rother Health and Well-Being: Leisure Facilities Strategy’;

•     Members suggested consideration be given to adding dancing into the Strategy as a known popular activity amongst the residents of Rother, with both physical and social benefits;

•     there was no mention of concessions for residents on low incomes, young people or of any local membership options in the Strategy. Members suggested consideration be given to incorporating these into the Strategy;

•     the research provided a representative sample of the population of Rother and the detailed data could be found in the appendices to the Strategy;

•     East Sussex Public Health had been consulted with and were very supportive of the Strategy.  Working locally with GPs would be challenging and would need to form part of the implementation plan;

•     nationally, leisure centres had seen a return of approximately 75% of their users from before the COVID-19 pandemic.  Habits had changed and many users were continuing to exercise at home or outside, rather than choosing to go back to indoor centres;

•     the largest proportion of returning leisure centre users were to swimming pools, with gym users being second;

•     Members were keen to ensure that high quality, accessible to all wet facilities would be a priority, as the need had been demonstrated by the results of the research;

•     Members did not consider the Council’s role in the Strategy to be purely one of an enabler and sign-poster to opportunities to be physically active, as implied in the key principles of the Strategy.  Members recommended that Cabinet consider rewording this principle to the Council being a deliverer as well as an enabler and sign-poster;

•     Members were keen to ensure that the Gullivers site in Sidley be incorporated into the Strategy;

•     references to the use of technology may attract more young people to leisure facilities and increased physical activity, such as virtual reality and video games;

•     Members paid tribute to the Council’s Community Grants Scheme in developing rural communities, which had enabled partnership working with parish councils to deliver leisure facilities such as the community pools and outdoor gym in Etchingham.  This was a scheme that  Members felt played an important role in the Strategy;

•     Members requested consideration be given to adding the wording ‘…and be as energy efficient as possible’ to key principle 6 in the Strategy, as achieving carbon neutrality in all new leisure provision was not enough;

•     FL had recently announced the temporary closure of the swimming pool in Rye due to rising utility costs. Members recommended and agreed to explore the reasons further. Swimming was important for both physical and mental health and was the most requested activity in the market research survey, particularly lane swimming which was offered at the Rye pool.  Representatives from FL and Rye Town Council would therefore be invited to the next meeting of the Committee to discuss further.

The Chair thanked Rachel Fowler for her detailed presentation of the Strategy and the Committee for their comments which would be reported to Cabinet.

RESOLVED: That:

1)   Cabinet be requested to amend the name of the Strategy to ‘Rother Health and Well-Being: Leisure Facilities Strategy’;

2)   Cabinet be requested to reword Key Principle 2 of the Strategy to ‘The Council’s role is one of deliverer as well as enabler and sign-poster to opportunities to be physically active’;

3)   Cabinet be requested to reword Key Principle 6 of the Strategy to ‘All new provision should be designed to achieve carbon neutrality and be as energy efficient as possible’;

4)   Cabinet be requested to approve the draft Health, Well-Being and Leisure Facilities Strategy prior to public consultation commencing in November 2022, taking into account points raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee; and

5)   representatives from Freedom Leisure and Rye Town Council be invited to the next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee scheduled to be held on 21 November 2022 to discuss the temporary closure of Rye Swimming Pool.

(Councillor J. Barnes declared a Personal Interest in this matter as Vice-Chair of Etchingham Trust for Sports and Recreation and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).

(Councillor Maynard declared a Personal Interest in this matter as Lead Member for Adult Social Care and Health, East Sussex County Council and in accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct remained in the meeting during the consideration thereof).