Minutes:
Motion on behalf of the Independent Residents’ Group
The Councils composite contribution to the new £28.8m Romford Leisure Centre was £26.726m. This involved £21.950m from Morrisons in exchange for the council owned ice rink site and a further £4.776m from council reserves. Sports England contributed an additional £2.074m.
Please note, Council assets and reserves are owned by all the borough. In Havering there are 18 wards and if we count the 3 wards in the south as Rainham, it means Rainham’s share of council assets is about 16%. This means Rainham’s contribution to the new Romford Leisure Centre was 16% of £26,726m = £4.277m. (This figure excludes Rainham’s 16% contribution towards whatever the council is spending on the other centres).
On the back of this contribution new centres and facilities have been opened in Romford, Hornchurch, Harold Hill and Noak Hill, with the council responsible for the capital funding and a new ‘borough-wide’ leisure contract signed with SLM. They are making a payment to council of £1.1m to manage the contract, but their own profit is undisclosed and the council has yet to trigger a profit share option.
The Executive claims, as Chafford requires a subsidy it may have to close. Ignoring the fact the Romford Centre was opened after receiving a de facto upfront council subsidy of £26.726m. In other words all the centres are receiving subsidy in one form or another and therefore they should all be included in the ‘borough-wide’ contract and cross subsidised.
In short, Rainham has contributed over £4.277m towards the Romford Leisure Centre and ‘borough-wide’ contract, but its own leisure centre is facing closure, allegedly, due to an unaffordable £232,000 subsidy, when if Rainham’s over £4.277m contribution towards the other Centres had been spent in Rainham, it’s enough to keep Chafford open for over another 18 years.
Thus Council agrees this disparity of funding within the new ‘borough-wide’ leisure contract is evidence of institutional bias against Rainham, contrary to the council’s equality, diversity and community cohesion duty within the 2010 Equality Act and calls on the Executive to resume ownership of Chafford Sports Complex and keep it open until a new centre is built in the south of the borough.
Amendment on behalf of the Conservative Group
This Council congratulates the previous administration for delivering the new state of the art Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre in Romford and welcomes the additional investment being made within sport provision across the Borough.
This Council further notes that due to the financial arrangements of the contract, there is no burden on the council tax payer and there will in fact attribute an on-going surplus for the Council, to reinvest in the Borough.
Following debate, the amendment on behalf of the Conservative Group was AGREED by 34 votes to 20 (see division 6) and AGREED as the substantive motion, without division.
RESOLVED:
This Council congratulates the previous administration for delivering the new state of the art Sapphire Ice and Leisure Centre in Romford and welcomes the additional investment being made within sport provision across the Borough.
This Council further notes that due to the financial arrangements of the contract, there is no burden on the council tax payer and there will in fact attribute an on-going surplus for the Council, to reinvest in the Borough.