Agenda and minutes
Venue: Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, Accrington. View directions
Contact: Ben Caulfield, Policy and Scrutiny Officer
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Apologies for absence, Substitutions, Declarations of Interest and Dispensations Minutes: There were apologies for absence from Councillors Scott Brerton, Noordad Aziz, Terry Hurn and Dominik Allen. Councillors Colin McKenzie, Bernard Dawson, Peter Edwards and Danny Cassidy substituted.
Ken Moss, co-optee, declared a potential conflict due to his role as a Board Member at Hyndburn Leisure. He explained that as he is not a Councillor, this is not a declarable interest as such and was also clear that his position on the Board of Hyndburn Leisure was a voluntary one. He has no voting rights on the committee but in the interests of transparency he wanted everyone to be aware.
The Chair said he wanted to make the committee aware that he has had involvement in supporting residents who wish Mercer Hall Leisure Centre to remain, however, he assured the committee that he would remain neutral in his role as chair. |
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Minutes of Last Meeting To submit the minutes of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 16th March 2023 for approval as a correct record.
Recommended - That the minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
Minutes: To submit the minutes of the Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 16th March 2023 for approval as a correct record.
Recommended - That the minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
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Call In Procedure Note To advise the Committee of the procedure to be followed at the meeting in relation to Call-Ins. Attention is drawn to Point 8 of the Procedure.
Recommended – That the Procedure be noted and applied to the undermentioned call-in.
Minutes: The Chair invited the Scrutiny and Policy Officer to speak on this item. The Officer explained that this meeting had been called to consider the call in of a Cabinet decision, which was item 4 on the agenda. This item outlined the Council’s procedure for consideration of items called in. Members were hopefully familiar with the process. The Officer drew attention to point 8, which outlined the options available to the committee.
Resolved - The procedure for consideration of items called in be noted. |
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At its meeting on 22nd March 2023, Agenda item 15 Hyndburn Leisure Transformation – Investing in the Health of Hyndburn, Cabinet resolved:
That Cabinet:
(2) Agrees to replace the current Mercer Hall leisure facility and Wilson Pavilion with a new facility at Wilson Playing Fields, as detailed in paragraph 4.5 and supported by the Site Options Analysis Study (Appendix 1);
(3) Agrees to progress feasibility work to repurpose Mercer Hall, to ensure that it remains a community asset
In accordance with the Call-In Procedure for Cabinet Decisions, the procedure has been activated. The following documents are included:
Call-In Form Copy of Cabinet Report from 23rd March 2023 – Hyndburn Leisure Transformation – Investing in the Health of Hynburn Copy of appendix to above Cabinet report – NEXUS Site Option Analysis Copy of appendix to above Cabinet report – Mercer Hall Leisure Centre EIA Extract from Minutes of Cabinet 22nd March 2023
Recommended – That the Committee does ONE of the following:
· To release the Cabinet decision in full for implementation; or
· To release the Cabinet decision in part for implementation, and refer the outstanding part of the decision back to the decision making body for reconsideration, setting out in writing the nature of its concerns; or
· To refer the decision back to the decision making person or body for reconsideration, setting out in writing the nature of its concerns. The decision maker shall then reconsider amending the decision or not, before adopting a final decision.
Additional documents:
Minutes: The Chair explained that at its meeting on 22nd March 2023, Agenda Item 15 Hyndburn Leisure Transformation, Cabinet resolved:
That Cabinet:
Agrees to replace the current Mercer Hall Leisure Facility and Wilson Pavilion with a new facility at Wilson Playing Fields, as detailed in paragraph 4.5 and supported by the Site Options Analysis Study;
And;
Agrees to progress feasibility work to repurpose Mercer Hall, to ensure that it remains a community asset.
In accordance with the Call-In Procedure for Cabinet Decisions, the procedure has been activated. The following documents are included in the agenda for the convenience of members: • Call-In Form • Copy of Cabinet Report and appendices from 22nd March 2023 • Extract from Minutes of Cabinet 22nd March 2023
Following the Council’s procedure for consideration of items called in, the Chair invited Councillor Colin McKenzie, Sponsor of the Call In to speak first.
Councillor McKenzie explained the headline reasons for the Call in can be seen on the Call in form, which is included in the agenda. They are, namely:
- Concerns regarding objectivity and independence of the Site Options Analysis - Possible factual inaccuracies in the reports - Funding status - Concerns decision has been made based on poor information
He said that he had spoken to many residents regarding this issue, and he felt it was clear that there is distrust from the community in the decision that has been made and suggested the Council and Hyndburn Leisure were using the reports to try and justify a bad decision. He said that he, and many others, felt like building a new facility at Wilsons was always the preferred option by the Cabinet and Hyndburn Leisure and that any subsequent reports or surveys commissioned have been done so in a favourable manner to Wilsons.
Cllr McKenzie wished to shared the views of local residents and groups. He first referred to comments received from Great Harwood Otters, a local swimming club who raised the following points:
- Major repair work was carried our previously on the pool at Mercer Hall Leisure Centre - Opening a new pool in Clayton-Le-Moors means there will be 3 pools in the Accrington area and none in Great Harwood - Since the club moved to Hyndburn Leisure Centre, there has been a lack of new children from Great Harwood joining - The planned 25m 4 lane pool is not big enough for club use, they don’t feel there will be enough public users to make it sustainable - The club have never been consulted with - Nobody wants a pool in Clayton-Le-Moors
Cllr McKenzie said that he was happy to see that the Site Options Analysis had been redone, he still had concerns:
- RAG charts are objective - The criteria selected for scoring favoured Wilsons. It looks like it was created to fit the preferred option - Some of the scoring for Wilsons is questionable, particularly around accessibility, visibility and capacity. - Lack of work gone into establishing ownership details for ... view the full minutes text for item 377. |