15/9/2022

Published Barrhead News On Line

East Renfrewshire: Questions over Eastwood leisure centre costs
1 hr ago

By Drew Sandelands
Local Democracy Reporter


Questions have been asked over the future of a £55m plan for a new Eastwood leisure centre and theatre as inflation soars.

An update on East Renfrewshire Council’s capital spending plans revealed £2m is set to be used on the Eastwood Park project this financial year — a reduction of £26.1m.

The scheme has been rephased, as work has not begun on site, and council officials have reported “further rephasing will be required” as “costs and timings become clearer”.

Plans for Eastwood leisure centre were approved in January and include a 50m pool, a 20m training pool, family fun pool with flume, a six-court games hall, a gym and four fitness studios. A theatre, with up to 350 seats and rehearsal space, and a library would also be developed.

At a full council meeting on Wednesday, an official revealed a report is being produced on the impact of rising inflation and material costs on the project ahead of an October meeting.

Annual inflation reached 10.1% in July, the highest level in 40 years.

He said the report would “explain all the background information about rising inflation, about rising material costs, what the implications are for the council and how we would want to phase any expenditure subject to the council’s decision”.

A report on the council’s general fund capital programme added: “In general, construction costs are rising faster than general inflation due to shortages of materials and labour and to bidders factoring in additional risk in their pricing. Across Scotland, many authorities are reporting cost increases of 20% to 50% on some projects.”

Cllr Andrew Morrison, Conservative, asked for a breakdown of what the £55m “consists of” as it is “quite a sum of capital investment and we all have a duty to ensure that best value is being delivered by the council”.

“I am aware of other comparable leisure centres in the private sector, for example one not far away from here which was reported as only costing £9.9m and that’s at the luxury end of the market,” Cllr Morrison added.

“Also Tollcross leisure centre in the East End of Glasgow, which was extensively refurbished for the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games, at a cost of £13.8m.

I think that it would benefit us all to investigate where that £55m is coming from in a lot more detail.”

Cllr Morrison asked what the £2m would be spent on in 2022/23. The council official said the fee included the appointment of external consultants.

Council leader Owen O’Donnell, Labour, who took up his role after the election in May, said: “On the £55m, that was the amount that was previously agreed by the council in the last budget round.

At the moment those numbers have not been revised or looked at in detail.

“Inflation is soaring at the moment and will be subject to review accordingly, but at this stage we have no further updated detail beyond what members have already received.”

The capital programme report also stated the council has “revised the phasings of our projects to reflect delays already experienced due to covid”.

“We are constantly monitoring project expenditure so that additional cost pressures on key projects can be covered by deferring or reducing other projects to compensate.”

Cllr Annette Ireland, SNP, said she was “slightly concerned” for the project after hearing the comments from Cllr Morrison and Cllr O’Donnell.

In March last year, councillors agreed staff could continue to develop the proposals for Eastwood Park despite concerns over increasing costs.

Previously, £26m had been allocated to the scheme but it was revealed the full costs could reach £55m.

At a meeting in October, councillors were told a “perfect storm”, including Brexit and the pandemic, could cause the price of the leisure centre to rise.

They heard how “increasing numbers of goods and services are proving challenging to procure” or have seen “substantial price increases”.

Planning permission was then granted for the project in January.

However, questions over the price remained.

Jim Swift, a former Conservative councillor, said at the planning committee meeting:

“I agree costs are not a planning concern, they are a concern for the full council.

They are an issue though, but it’s not for discussion here.”

In addition to the £55m+ cost there will also be yearly maintenance and running costs to pay.

No figures for these yearly maintenance and running costs have been published?

Energy costs - Heating? Lighting etc?


A two-storey hub/building with a sports hall, 50m swimming pool, 20m training pool, a family fun pool with flume, a six-court games hall, large gym and four fitness studios and theatre -

these costs could be fairly hefty?

'Cllr Morrison asked what the £2m would be spent on in 2022/23.

The council official said the fee included the appointment of external consultants.'


The Council have been throwing Council Tax Payers money at this since 2014 !

Is this £2m in addition to the

£2.5M currently being paid to Consultants Turner & Townsed(Stallan Brand) and

the £1.5M+ also paid out since 2014 above this?

Agenda for Full Council Meeting Wednesday 26 October 2022 at 7.00 pm.

You can read details on Council Website here -

www.eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk/council-261022


Agenda Item 18
EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL
26 October 2022
Report by Chief Executive
EASTWOOD LEISURE CENTRE / THEATRE

PURPOSE OF REPORT
1. The purpose of this report is to advise the Council of potential increased costs with regard to the delivery of a new Eastwood Leisure Centre/Theatre due primarily to recent construction cost inflation. The report also highlights the impact of market volatility and that a further report will be brought back to Council.

RECOMMENDATION
2. It is recommended that the Council notes:-

• The effect of construction inflation on the projected cost of a replacement Eastwood
leisure centre;

• The recent volatility in interest rates and energy prices; and

• That a further report will be brought to council in the near future, once an analysis of the impact of interest rates and energy prices on the cost of options for the Eastwood Leisure Centre and the overall capital plan has been completed.

BACKGROUND
3. The Council in February 2021 considered a report providing an update on the
Eastwood Leisure Centre and Theatre options and costs.

4. The report explained that the opportunity is unique given the blend of civic, education, leisure, culture, heritage, landscape and community within Eastwood Park.

The LeisureCentre/Theatre has the potential to deliver wide benefits, reinforcing the success of the surrounding areas as attractive places to live with excellent facilities including schools, local shops, restaurants, places of worship, sports clubs and good public transport.

5. The report highlighted the opportunity for a high quality, visually attractive and state- of-the-art facility. The focus was on customer appeal, future flexibility and income generating opportunities.

Key examples included pool facilities which offer scope for lessons alongside
public swimming and training, extended hours of access to the gym and fitness suites, a gymnastics facility, the potential to incorporate a library, agile workspace, office
accommodation, a studio theatre and rehearsal space to complement the main theatre
auditorium and an outdoor cinema/theatre area as well as being able to host a wide range of events.

6. The report further advised that the overall development cost was estimated to be £55million.

The report highlighted that the cost would be refined through further detailed design,
market testing and value engineering in due course.

7. The Council was advised that the options available to the Council at that stage were;

• to progress the current proposals at an estimated capital cost of £55 million; or

• to choose a reduced level of capital expenditure and have the scheme
redesigned within that level of expenditure.

8. The Council agreed to proceed with the current proposals contained within the report for Eastwood Leisure Centre and Theatre at an estimated £55m capital cost and appropriate provision was made within the Council’s General Fund Capital Programme.

REPORT
9. Since that time preliminary investigations have been carried out and planning
permission was granted in January 2022.

10. BAM Construction Ltd were appointed in April/May 2022 as the primary and preferred
contractor after a comprehensive tender exercise carried out by Hub West Scotland on the Council’s behalf involving the Council’s Chief Procurement Officer.

11. In June 2022 BAM advised that RIBA stage 3 market review of the cost plan showed
that the updated budget estimate had risen to £74 million.

The project has been affected mainly by the high level of inflation being experienced across the construction sector.

As a result the estimated project cost had increased.

12. A value engineering exercise was then carried out to try to reduce the cost whilst at the same time protecting the vision/ambition, scope and quality of the project.

The result of the exercise was that the estimate of £74 million could be reduced to £67 million without reducing quality and/or functionality and without adversely affecting whole life costs.

The cost estimate includes contingency of £8.8m.

13. The intention had been to present Council with 5 options;
• Option one – proceed with the original vision and scope for a new build facility at
a cost of around £67 million.

• Option two – agree to a lower cost and reduce the vision and scope for a new
build facility.

• Option three – refurbish the existing facility.

• Option four – start afresh and design a small local leisure centre without a theatre

• Option five – do nothing at all.

14. However whilst this analysis work was undertaken, there has been significant volatility in interest rates.

The Head of Accountancy is presently reviewing the existing capital plan and based on present rates, the impact on the affordability of the plan could be significant.

It is expected that interest rates could fall next year but at the moment the level of uncertainty makes an assessment of future interest rates difficult.

15. East Renfrewshire Council’s Net Zero 2045 policies and ambitions are best served by an all-electric building.

The design of the replacement building maximised energy efficiency and units used per m2 are expected to be 63% less than the existing building.

The building is approximately double the size of the existing building but is still expected to use 16% less energy.

However at the moment a unit of electricity is significantly more expensive than a unit of gas.

This will be a factor in all new buildings until the differential between gas and electricity prices is reduced.

Given the current price of energy, further work is required to understand the
significance of this in the overall running costs of the new building.

16. Further analysis of the impact of interest rate rises and energy prices is required and therefore a further report will be brought to Council in the near future.

FINANCE AND EFFICIENCY
17. There is currently provision of £55 million within the Council’s General Fund Capital Programme.

18. Recent volatility in market conditions has led to a great deal of uncertainty around interest rates and energy prices.

The financial work done to date has focused on the impact of construction inflation caused primarily by supply chain issues associated with Coronavirus.

The market volatility in interest rates and energy prices is much more recent and there is a high degree of uncertainty about long term trends.

CONSULTATION AND PARTNERSHIP WORKING

19. There has been considerable partnership working, mainly with the East Renfrewshire
Culture and Leisure Trust in developing these proposals.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSALS
20. There are no staffing, IT, legal or equality implications directly associated with this report at this point in time.

21. Sustainability issues will be addressed in future reports.

RECOMMENDATION
22. It is recommended that the Council notes:-

• Effect of construction inflation on the projected cost of a replacement Eastwood leisure centre;

• The recent volatility in interest rates and energy prices; and

• That a further report will be brought to council in the near future once an analysis of the impact of interest rates and energy prices on the cost of options for the Eastwood Leisure Centre and the overall capital plan.

Lorraine McMillan
Chief Executive
October 2022

31/10/2022

Published Barrhead news On Line -

Plans for new leisure centre in doubt after cost soars to £67m
47 mins ago
By Drew Sandelands
Local Democracy Reporter

Plans for a new leisure centre and theatre in East Renfrewshire have been thrown into doubt after it emerged the cost had soared to £67million.

Rising inflation and volatile interest rates are behind the increase, pushing the potential cost of replacing Eastwood Leisure Centre up from the £55m previously agreed by councillors.

Proposals which include a 50m pool, 20m training pool, family fun pool, six-court games hall and a gym were approved in January.

A theatre, with up to 350 seats, and a library are also part of the project.

But there have repeatedly been questions over the cost of the development after £26m was initially allocated.

Now a report by council officials has revealed that contractors BAM Construction Ltd advised the cost had increased to £74m, mainly due to “the high level of inflation being experienced across the construction sector.”

This figure has since been reduced to £67m but council officials are carrying out further analysis on the impact of interest rates and energy prices, with councillors to receive an update in “the near future.”

Before that analysis began, officials had intended to give councillors five options – proceed with the £67m project; agree to a lower cost and reduce the scope of the development; refurbish the existing facility; start afresh and design a smaller leisure centre without a theatre; or do nothing.

Council leader Owen O’Donnell told a full council meeting “an extensive review" into the project has been held in recent months.

The Labour member said: “At this stage we are recommending that we need more information, principally around the impact of interest rates on the affordability of this project in terms of the impact on capital and revenue budgets, and that will come back to the council at a future meeting when that data is prepared and ready.”

Councillor Gordon Wallace, of the Conservatives, said the existing leisure centre has been “very poorly neglected" over the past decade.

He added that, while there is “no question” the community needs a new leisure hub, he is “delighted to see we’ve just put a bit of a pause on this just now.”

Councillor Andrew Morrison, also of the Conservatives, asked whether there had been any “consideration of involving the private sector in this development,” such as sponsorship of the theatre.

He added: “That could substantially reduce the cost here and free up council resources for other purposes which would also have merit in other parts of East Renfrewshire.”

In response, Councillor O’Donnell said: “We are not privatising the leisure centre, if that’s what anyone is thinking about, but we will look for sponsorship opportunities or commercial opportunities, as you would expect for a facility of this size.”

EAST RENFREWSHIRE COUNCIL - 14th December 2022
Report by Chief Executive
EASTWOOD LEISURE CENTRE / THEATRE OPTIONS

PURPOSE OF REPORT

1. The purpose of this report is to advise the Council of the impact of construction
cost inflation, energy price inflation and increased interest rates on a range of options with regard to the delivery of a new Eastwood Leisure Centre and Theatre.

RECOMMENDATION

2. It is recommended that the Council:-

• Notes that a figure of £55m has previously been approved by Council to be included in the capital plan for the purpose of building a replacement Eastwood Leisure Centre;

• Notes that since the capital plan was approved, there has been considerable instability in construction prices, interest rates, and energy prices and that a centre of the scale originally envisaged would require additional investment;

• Consider a range of options for the provision of leisure facilities in Eastwood
and identify a preferred option to allow the Head of Accountancy to make changes to the capital plan (if necessary) in preparation for the Council meeting in March 23;

and

• Consider the timing of the preferred option.

BACKGROUND
3. The Council in February 2021 considered a report (Here) providing an update on the Eastwood Leisure Centre and Theatre options and costs.

4. The report explained that the opportunity is unique given the blend of civic,
education, leisure, culture, heritage, landscape and community within Eastwood Park.

The Leisure Centre/Theatre has the potential to deliver wide benefits, reinforcing the success of the surrounding areas as attractive places to live with excellent facilities including schools, local shops, restaurants, places of worship, sports clubs and good public transport. 5. The report highlighted the opportunity for a high quality, visually attractive and state of-the-art facility.

5. The focus was on customer appeal, future flexibility and income generating
opportunities. Key examples included pool facilities which offer scope for lessons
alongside public swimming and training, extended hours of access to the gym and fitness suites, a gymnastics facility, the potential to incorporate a library, agile workspace, office accommodation, a studio theatre and rehearsal space to complement the main theatre auditorium, address waiting lists and demand for service, and offer an outdoor cinema/theatre area as well as being able to host a wide range of events

6. The report in February 2021 advised that the overall development cost was estimated
to be £55 million. Council agreed that the project could proceed and an investment of £55 million was built into the Council’s capital plan.

7. A further report was brought to Council on 26th October 2022 (Here). This noted that the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) stage 3 market review of the cost plan showed that the updated budget estimate had risen to £74 million.

The project has been affected mainly by the high level of inflation being experienced across the construction sector.

A value engineering exercise was then carried out which identified that the estimate of £74 million could be reduced to £67 million, without reducing quality and/or functionality and without adversely affecting whole life costs.

8. Council noted the effect of construction inflation on the projected cost of a replacement Eastwood Leisure Centre, the recent volatility in interest rates and energy prices, and that a further report would be brought to Council in the near future, once an analysis of the impact of interest rates and energy prices on the cost of options for the Eastwood Leisure Centre and the overall capital plan had been completed.

This report is the result of that further analysis.

REPORT

Interest Rates

9. The October report highlighted that interest rates had risen sharply making borrowing more costly.

Prior to recent increases the Council’s loans fund interest rate for 2023/24 was
budgeted at 3.04%.

As at 7 December, the estimated 2023/24 rate is now 3.93%.

10. The Council does not borrow against specific capital projects but borrows as required to fund the capital programme, taking into account other sources of income such as Capital grants from the Scottish Government.

Therefore, this increase in interest rates influences the total capital financing costs of the Council.

It should be noted however that in recent years the Council’s capital financing costs have been low at circa £9m per annum as compared to £13.6m per annum in 2012/2013.

11. The Council has taken advice for our external Treasury advisors who are expecting
interest rates to reduce in a year or two.

They have therefore recommended that we defer new borrowing for a year or two until rates reduce again.

This could be achieved by delaying capital projects or alternatively, the Head of Accountancy has identified that the Council could utilise “internal borrowing” from its cash balances as a temporary measure to fund key capital expenditure and avoid incurring higher interest rates.

When interest rates reduce, the internal borrowing would be replaced by long term external borrowing.

A revised cost of borrowing is identified for each option below, assuming that this approach is taken.

12. By taking this approach outlined, the impact of high interest rates on the Council’s capital financing costs should be reduced and therefore should not be considered as a significant factor in Council’s decision on which option for the leisure centre to progress.

Energy Costs

13. With regard to energy, the new build leisure centre and theatre have a Net Zero Ready all-electric design, whose carbon emissions will lower as the electricity grid decarbonises.

Operational Energy Use analysis predicts a 63% reduction in operational energy128
consumption per m² compared to the existing building.

Even taking into account that electricity per unit presently has a significantly higher cost than gas, the cost of energy per m² for the new build options will be slightly lower than for the existing building.

14. The electric air source heat pumps (ASHPs) and energy efficient pool filtration
equipment add a premium of £1.2m to the project cost but this is considered good value for money because of the reduced running costs and the greater efficiency (>300%), carbon credentials and the resilience of ASHPs compared to conventional gas/oil fired boilers.

15. Energy prices have also increased recently and advice has been taken on the likely
long term costs of electricity and gas.

We understand that in the medium term, higher prices may remain and therefore we have made a prudent assumption that the unit price for electricity will stay at around 34p per kWh.

Estimated energy costs are provided for each option.

16. An initial analysis has been carried out to assess if an upgrade to full Passivhaus accreditation would provide an additional saving in the cost of energy and provide good value for money.

Passivhaus is the gold standard in energy efficiency and refers to buildings created to rigorous energy efficient design standards so that they maintain an almost constant temperature.

The initial analysis suggests that the design of the leisure centre is already close to Passivhaus standards and that additional investment would not provide value for money.

17. While high energy costs will affect the running costs of the new leisure centre, they are already impacting the running costs of the existing centre. The largest option for the leisure centre will incur higher energy costs but for some of the other options the difference will be marginal in the medium term.

Revenue costs of the Leisure Centre

18. East Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust (ERCLT) operate Eastwood Leisure
Centre under a management agreement.

The Council does not specifically identify the funding for Eastwood Leisure Centre but the Trust have identified that the subsidy per annum to the centre is in the region of £500k.

The Trust have analysed the impact of the different options on the revenue projections and required subsidy.

The previously preferred option of centre of over 10,000 sqm would be effective in maximising income generation opportunities and the Trust expected to be able to operate the centre with an unchanged level of subsidy.

19. For options 2, 3 and 4, the balance between staff costs and income changes slightly and the deficit is likely to increase slightly.

Construction Costs

20. Construction costs have suffered from very significant inflation caused by a number of factors. It is difficult to predict future construction inflation but it appears that inflation will continue for a period but with the rate of inflation reducing.

In the future prices may stabilise but it seems unlikely that prices will reduce especially due to the impact of the war in Ukraine on steel prices.

21. All options outlined below include a significant level of contingency to reflect potential inflation in construction costs and project risk.

Options 1, 2 and 3 have a contingency of circa 20%, Option 4 27% and Option 5 41%.

The increased contingency for Options 4 and 5 is primarily due to the risks associated with refurbishment of an existing building.

22. A delay in the start date of construction of a new facility is likely to increase the cost of the project further.

Based on Option 2 -
• A 1 year delay would add an additional 9.5% to project costs (circa £5m)
• A 2 year delay would add an additional 13.8% to project costs (circa £7m)
• A 3 year delay would add an additional 15.3% to project costs (circa £8m)

Options

23. The following options are detailed below:-

• Option One -

Maintain the original Full Project Brief - this includes a theatre, a 50M pool, a 20M pool and a family fun pool, a six court games hall with an overall capacity of 800,000 customers per year.

This would be an ambitious project which would meet the needs of a growing population,
especially for swimming lessons, as well as attracting visitors from outside of
the area with a resulting economic benefit to the area.

This has a capital cost of circa £67M.

The next 3 options have been prepared to identify what could be done within the approved cost envelope of £55m whilst retaining as much as possible of the original vision and design of Option 1.

• Option Two -

Build a New Leisure Centre with Theatre - with less pool and games hall provision: The design would be similar to Option 1 but with a 25m pool, 10m learner pool, 4 court games hall and reduced specification.

This would have a capacity of 650,000 customers per year and a capital cost of circa £52M.

• Option Three -

New Leisure Centre with Theatre - the design would be similar to Option 1 but with a 25m pool, 10m learner pool, no games hall or library and reduced building specification.

This would have a capacity of 450,000 customers per year.

This has a capital cost of circa £50M.

• Option Four -

New Leisure Centre only with refurbished theatre - the design would be similar to Option 1 but with a 25m pool, 10m learner pool, no games hall or library and reduced building specification.

This would have a capacity of 450,000 customers per year.

The refurbishment of the theatre would involve its closure for a period of time, the works would carry considerable financial risk with the refurbished building having a 30 year lifespan.

This has a capital cost of circa £51M with a total 40-year cost of £98M.

The next 2 options retain the existing facility. Refurbishment will extend the life of existing assets by 30 years whereas a new facility will have a life of more than 40 years.

• Option Five –

Refurbish the Existing Facilities - this would have a capacity
of 285,000 customers per year.

This has a capital cost of circa £44M.

This has previously been discounted as providing poor value for money due to the
more limited lifespan of a refurbished building.

The inability to meet customer demand due to size and the poor green credentials should also be considered.

The leisure centre would also have to be closed for a considerable period of time with very limited alternative provision for residents.

• Option Six –

Retain existing facility and carry out essential maintenance

- this building and the pool is already near end of life and is likely to be required
to be permanently closed at some time in the future.

This would have a capacity of 285,000 customers per year whilst the building was operational.

If this option was selected the capital costs already incurred in the design of the
new building could no longer be classed as capital expenditure and would instead have to be borne by the revenue budget.

24. The following data has been gathered for each option:-

a) Capital costs
b) Annual loan charges
c) Annual cost of energy at current prices
d) Expected visitor numbers
e) Trust’s annual running and income costs
f) The date that the facility could be operational
g) Any risks or issues

25. The table contained within the appendix provides the necessary data for each of
the options.

CONSIDERATIONS

26. The existing centre does not have the capacity to meet current demand from the
existing population, let alone facilitate further growth. At 285k visits per year, the current centre has oversubscribed spaces such as the theatre and the pool and this generates considerable dissatisfaction from residents.

27. Leisure centres play an important part in the health and wellbeing of local
residents.

The importance of all forms of exercise in terms of wellbeing and mental health
has become even more prominent during the pandemic.

Public sector leisure centres play a vital role in ensuring that all residents can access physical activities.

ERCLT works very closely with the HSCP in a number of areas but rehabilitation after illness is a particular area worthy of highlighting.

28. The do-nothing option also comes with substantial risk in terms of the potential
requirement to replace important or costly plant at short notice in the event of failure with consequential closures likely.

The current plant is beyond its current life capacity and as such there is a risk of plant failure and therefore a possible temporary closure whilst broken plant was fixed. Backlog maintenance has been estimated at circa £14m.

It would also mean that the costs incurred so far in relation to the design would need to become a revenue cost.

29. To refurbish the existing centre would involve closure for up to 24 months.

The closure could mean the end of a number of local clubs, groups and companies which
currently use the centre.

Residents are likely to join other leisure centres whilst the centre is closed and it will take some time before membership numbers and revenue return to pre closure levels leading to an increased subsidy requirement.

Residents in our more vulnerable groups may not have the opportunity to join other leisure centres.

This option was previously considered and rejected by Council in 2018.

30. Options one, two and three (and to an extent option four) would result in a building with low carbon emissions assisting the council in working towards its Net Zero commitments.

The options would be ‘net zero’ in operations once the electricity grid is fully decarbonised.

31. The working assumption is that were options 2-4 chosen, a new planning
application would not be required.

However, detailed designs would need to be submitted in order to confirm this assumption.

In order to comply with the approved planning consent works would need to start by 19 January 2025.

32. All new build options could be built by mid-2026/27 with the refurbished theatre or refurbished leisure centre and theatre complete slightly later in 2027.

FINANCE AND EFFICIENCY

33. There is currently provision of £55M within the Council’s General Fund Capital
Programme.

34. The financial implications of each option are noted in the appendix. The
assumptions around interest rates, construction inflation and energy rates are the same for each option and have been noted in the appendix.

35. In addition to determining a preferred option, Council could consider delaying the
start date for construction.

36. Even if, as noted at paragraph 11, internal borrowing is utilised temporarily to avoid increased interest rates, other revenue pressures facing the Council are severe for the next few years.

A deferral could lessen the immediate revenue pressures.

This however would need to be balanced against the potential increase in overall construction costs as a result of construction inflation in the next two years.

37. The impact of deferring the options for a period of up to two years would include:-

• leading to more certainty that lower interest rates are achievable.

• Increasing the overall cost of the project as construction inflation is expected to continue for some time.

• Contributing to reducing the costs of borrowing for the overall capital programme (loan charges) which will reduce pressure on the revenue budget.

• Increasing the risk that the existing leisure centre pool will fail, leaving
residents with significantly reduced access to swimming.

CONSULTATION AND PARTNERSHIP WORKING

38. There has been considerable partnership working, mainly with the East
Renfrewshire Culture and Leisure Trust in developing these proposals, alongside internal Council teams.

HubWest have provided the detailed technical and financial appraisal work of the options under consideration.

IMPLICATIONS OF THE PROPOSALS

39. Each option has a variety of financial and non-financial implications.

Figures are provided for the build and running costs for each option over a forty-year period.

The implications of each option are noted.

RECOMMENDATION
40. It is recommended that the Council:-

• Notes that a figure of £55m has previously been approved by Council to be included in the capital plan for the purpose of building a replacement Eastwood Leisure Centre;

• Notes that since the capital plan was approved, there has been considerable instability in construction prices, interest rates, and energy prices and that a centre of the scale originally envisaged would require additional investment;

• Consider a range of options for the provision of leisure facilities in Eastwood
and identify a preferred option to allow the Head of Accountancy to make changes to the capital plan (if necessary) in preparation for the Council meeting in March 23;

and

• Consider the timing of the preferred option.

REPORT AUTHORS
Lorraine McMillan, Chief Executive
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Phil Daws, Head of Environment (Strategic Services)
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December 2022