Victoria Leisure Centre plans finalised
THE city council has finalised its plans for the £9m redevelopment of the Victoria Leisure Centre in Sneinton.
The executive board of Nottingham City Council approved the full business case for the scheme yesterday.
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The decision has sparked huge controversy
The report detailed the building costs of the project and also approved the start of initial works in advance of any planning approval – which councillors hope will be granted by the development control committee in May.
Initial works include draining the swimming pools, removing furniture, removing asbestos and renovating the clock tower.
The redevelopment proposal is to demolish much of the existing leisure centre and create a new one which will be smaller but of a higher quality, according to the city council.
There has been determined opposition from some local residents who want the existing building to be kept and refurbished at less cost.
However, Labour councillors spoke in favour of the new development at the meeting and insisted it would help bring more young people into sport.
Coun Dave Trimble, portfolio holder for culture and communities, said: "This allows the authority to enter into early works. It is important we do this to remove possible delays."
Coun Trimble said a £22m city-wide leisure centre transformation programme had already revamped a number of facilities, leading to a rise in the number of people using them.
"When we do Victoria Leisure Centre it will be the best in the city. The numbers who use it will also increase. That might displease a few people who like an empty swimming pool but we have to attract young people away from their PlayStations.
"That 100-year-old building will not be worth refurbishing. It will not last 25 to 30 years.
"The people of St Ann's and Sneinton will be extremely pleased when they see what comes out of it."
Coun David Mellen, portfolio holder for children's services, said the plan to rebuild the centre was born out of community concerns.
He said: "This shows the council listens to the views of the people."
charles.walker@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk
7 Comments
by Mat, St Anns
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 11:19PM
“Why bother posting comments when you clearly don't know the facts, Mr Sensible? The Council's own figures show that the new build is more expensive than other refurb, more expensive to run and is highly unlikely to stand for 150 years. The current centre is in the median for visitor numbers, running costs and price per visit compared to other city facilities. Please do some research rather than coming up such arrant guff.”
by innram, ng16
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 10:30PM
“Look, for those who say we should just revamp the existing one, as the article says it is 100 years old, and there are situations where it is more cost-effective to completely rebuild the building than go through potencially endless refurbishments
Whats the betting the new building will have a lifespan of less than 30 years.”
by Mr. Sensible, The Real World
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 5:20PM
“Look, for those who say we should just revamp the existing one, as the article says it is 100 years old, and there are situations where it is more cost-effective to completely rebuild the building than go through potencially endless refurbishments.”
by Sneintonite, Sneinton
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 2:06PM
“What contempt for local residents this council shows yet again!
A protracted campaign by local residents, marches through the city, thousand of names on petitions and hundreds of hours wasted at so called public consultation events with the city council. The city council knew exactly what it wants to do with the city and will ride rough shod over the people who vote them in.
You can get away with it for a while Collins and co, but as a life long labour supporter my vote will go to the liberal democrats next time.”
by Earl Manvers, Nottingham
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 12:52PM
“Oh Coun Trimble, hang your head in shame. Talking about the Council attracting people from PlayStations when this same Council previously announced that this essential facility was actually not needed and the needs could be met by other Centres. I also attended the consultation events and strangely, there was no mention whatsoever of the selling-off of land for commercial use. Of course, yet again, the Council consults then proceeds regardless of opinion, happy to be arrogant and dictatorial. One Nottingham must mean something else I suppose.”
by Andrew Shore, Lace Market
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 10:43AM
“It really frustrates me to hear the Council proclaiming that the new facility will be "the best in the city" ensuring "the numbers who use it will also increase." Whilst this may be entirely true for the shiny new pool, gym and sauna, the same cannot be said for the current users of the sports hall, whose numbers will be reduced to zero.
The decision to permanently close the sports hall goes against the Council-acknowledge national trend for combined wet-dry leisure centres, which the Council uses to argue in favour of relocating Beechdale Baths over to Harvey Hadden.
The only "views of the people" the Council have listened to is whether they would prefer a swimming pool OR a sports hall. The redevelopment plans have always proposed a smaller facility, to allow the Council to sell off some land for private development.”
by Mat, St Anns
Wednesday, March 17 2010, 9:12AM
“This is the Council emphatically NOT listening to people's views as the evidence gathered by the Council consultations show. It is simply breathtaking to be lectured by Cllrs Mellen and Trimble on leisure provision given that neither look as if they've been near a leisure centre in years and both of them display woeful ignorance of the issues involved. Vote them out.”