Agenda item

Report attached.

The Cabinet considered a report of Councillor Melissa Fisher, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Housing and Regeneration, updating members and Management Team on progressions so far on the Wilson Leisure Centre development, along with the target completion date and financial position in relation to the overall budget.

 

Councillor Fisher provided a brief introduction to the report including the proposed opening date, and the proposed new name for the Centre in memory of Cath Thom.  She was looking forward to the project’s completion.  Councillors Dad, Pritchard and Whitehead spoke about Cath Thom and noted that family members had been contacted and were delighted with the proposal.  Councillor Pritchard also thanked Helen McCue-Melling, Regeneration and Property Manager, for her efforts to ensure that the venue had numerous facilities for users with a disability and was dementia friendly.

 

Councillor Zak Khan was pleased to see that the Centre was on track and that it had not been unduly affected by the original contractor, ISG, entering administration.  He expressed some reservations about the Centre being named after a former politician rather than, say, a local sportsperson.

 

Approval of the report was not considered to be a key decision.

 

Reasons for Decision

 

Works recommenced on the Wilson site with Universal Ltd the newly appointed construction contractor in early January 2025.

 

The remaining works from the restart were scheduled for approximately 32 weeks with a completion date expected in early to mid-September 2025.

 

The contract progress to date was currently expected to have a completion date of 19^th September which was expected to overrun the original target by up to 10 working days.

 

As Universal Ltd had taken over the contract works after the previous contractor ISG falling into administration there was always likely to be some scope for some slight contract completion overrun as some aspects of works would require procuring again and therefore the current projected overrun of 10 days was within tolerable expectations.

 

Good progress works had been made against the planned critical path and the building was in its final phases with the focus now moving towards undertaking final external building & internal fitout and finishes.

 

As with all major projects there were always risks around delays due to reliance on third parties such as utility connections and the availability of providers in ensuring connections were delivered on time.

 

A summary of construction progress was as follows:

 

• Roof - Practically complete, mansafe system installed, capping to perimeter ongoing following scaffold strip.

 

• Internal Walls - Firestopping where applicable well advanced, air sealing where applicable well advanced, dot and dab, rendering/skimming almost complete – small areas remained.

 

• Internal Floors - Floor tiling ongoing in wet change.

 

• Internal Decoration - Plant room(s) completed, outdoor change areas well advanced, working in front of Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP).

 

• Pool Area - Pool earthing installed, pool shell tiling almost complete, pool wall perimeter well advanced with tape and joint and rendering.

 

• External Façade - Curtain walling complete, cladding well advanced.

 

• External works - Mains electric and watermains installed.  Main duct system installed; attenuation tank delayed following review of impact on pavilion.

 

• MEP - First Fix works well advanced, ducting well advanced, all main plant installed i.e. Air Handling Unit (AHU), Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP), Main Low Voltage (LV) panel, Building Management System (BMS) panel, substation installed.

 

• Pool Filtration - Main plant well advanced, with chemical controllers installed.  Main panel on site.

 

• Pavillion - Demolished with ground level reduced dig ongoing.

 

The contract works were now approximately 22 weeks into the 32-week programme and over the next 10 weeks the key final works would be undertaken to achieve the final completion handover date of 19^th September 2025.

 

It was expected from that point in time the Council and Hyndburn Leisure would then ensure the building was fully operational in preparation for a planned opening to the public on the 10^th October 2025.

 

A mobilisation plan had been developed to prepare the building and ensure internal gym equipment, furniture and fittings could be installed and that Hyndburn Leisure had staff recruited and trained in operations of the building.

 

The Council, Hyndburn Leisure, Sport England, and all stakeholders would be involved in communications in the lead up to the planned opening.

 

Financial Progress

 

Cabinet in January 2025 had previously agreed to accept a further £240,000 from Sport England to increase the development budget to £12.929m and restart the works by appointing the Universal Group to complete the project.

 

In order to restart the project it had been agreed that further costs in addition to the Sport England grant could be met from within the contingency budget held within the overall project budget, which at this point only left £35,399 available to meet any future risks that might occur.

 

Since the restart, the project had been closely monitored, and budgets had been scrutinised by the project team, along with re-engineering and re-design agreed between the Council, its contractors and Sport England as a funder.

 

The latest forecast on the project costs was a total cost of £13.057m compared to the approved budget of £12.929m, which forecast an overspend of £0.128m - an increase in the budget of 1%.

 

This forecast overspend included additional contract costs and variations totalling £0.245m and were attributable to increases in costs relating to compliance with planning conditions, meeting final internal design requirements requested by Sport England and combatting projected costs of additional site security due to site break-ins.  These costs had been managed where possible within the scheme budget and additional savings had been achieved to minimise the impact down to the £0.128m now forecast.

 

Latest Project Forecast Expenditure

 

Description	Latest Approved Project Budget	Total Spend to Date	Forecast to End of Project	Forecast Scheme Final Cost	Final Expected Variation
	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s	£000’s
Sub-total Contract Sum	11,598	7,317	4,659	11,976	(387)
Sub-total Fees & Equipment FFE	1,089	460	299	760	330
Total Contract Sum	12.687	7,777	4,958	12,735	(48)
Sub-total – HBC other costs	158	92	27	119	38
Contingency/Variations to Contract	85	49	153	202	(118)
Total Development Agreement	12,929	7,918	5,138	13,057	(128)

 

 

The Council had been in the fortunate position where it had been able to receive external funding in advance of major project expenditure and these additional cash balances had been invested to generate interest returns.  These investment returns had significantly contributed to the Council’s revenue budget underspend of £0.433m in 2024/25.  It was therefore proposed that the underspend be earmarked to fund any overspend that might arise in the final stages of this project, currently identified as £0.128m.

 

Naming of the new Leisure Centre

 

A request had been made to name the new Leisure Centre at Wilson Sports Village “The Cath Thom Leisure Centre”.  This naming would recognise the service of the former Clayton-le-Moors ward Councillor who had served the residents for 16 years as a ward councillor and a County Councillor.

 

Cath Thom had also been appointed as Mayor of Hyndburn and received the Borough’s highest honour of an Honorary Alderman.  She had been described as the “matriarch of the Labour party in Clayton-le-Moors and an “elder stateswoman of the Borough” who was an “impossible act to follow.”

 

In 1982 she had started her 16-year term in office as Clayton-le-Moors councillor and in the 1990s she represented Rishton, Altham and Clayton-le-Moors at County Hall.

 

Cath had sadly passed away in 2019, aged 91.  It was felt that it would be a fitting tribute to name the new Leisure centre in Clayton-le-Moors after one of the residents who served the Council so well.

 

There were no alternative options for consideration or reasons

 

Resolved                                 (1)   That Cabinet note the progress and expected completion date of the project as 19^th September 2025.

 

(2)   That Cabinet note the latest forecast additional costs of the project at £0.128m (1%) and agree to cover any overspend from the £0.433m underspend in 2024/25, should it be needed to cover the final completion costs.

 

(3)   That Cabinet approve the naming of the new Leisure Centre at the Wilson Sports Village site as “The Cath Thom Leisure Centre” in recognition of the former Councillor, Mayor and Honorary Alderman’s service to the Council and Clayton le Moors Ward.