Controversial plans not to reopen Kenilworth's leisure facilities have emerged this week from Warwick District Council.

A proposal submitted to the district council's executive has recommended that Abbey Fields Leisure Centre and Castle Farm Recreation Centre do not reopen following the third national lockdown, as the council accelerates redevelopment work on both sites.

Plans to demolish and rebuild both facilities had initially been scheduled for completion by the end of 2021, however a planning application for the works at Abbey Fields has only just been submitted (on January 28).

However, the much-delayed planning applications for both of the sites have yet to be considered by the town council nor district council planning committees.

Kenilworth Town Council have already spoken out against the proposal not to reopen the two facilities.

All the recommendations in the report will be discussed at a meeting by Warwick District Council's Executive on February 11.

With the WDC proposal already receiving a lot of negative responses, we have looked through the document to see what it actually says about the two facilities in Kenilworth.

Recommendations

The proposal to Warwick District Council is broken down into eight different recommendations, these can be found in section two of the document.

1. The executive to note that the RIBA Stage 4 (design only) has been completed for the reconstruction, and planning of the two buildings. Current estimated costs are also included. Between £9,381,000 and £9,850,000 for Abbey Fields and the current estimate between £11,834,000 and £12,426,000 for Castle Farm.

1. To begin the next stage of procurement for demolition and construction contracts to "establish cost certainty" with three further recommendations:

1. "Contracts for the demolition and reconstruction of the Abbey Fields Swimming Pool should be entered into by the council if the costs for this element of the project do not exceed the cost cap of £9,850,000."

1. "Contracts for the demolition and reconstruction of the Castle Farm Recreation Centre should be entered into by the council if the costs for this element of the project do not exceed the cost cap of £12,426,000."

1. A further report will be submitted to executive to determine a course of action, should the procurement find that costs will exceed the caps already set.

1. Should the previous three recommendations be approved, it would be noted that around £2.5m of developer Section 106 indoor sports contributions should be available to help finance the projects at Abbey Fields Swimming Pool "but notes that this sum is not guaranteed and comes with a number of risks."

1. Further cost breakdowns of the two projects are outlined.

1. Should all the other recommendations be validated then "Executive agrees that the Abbey Fields Swimming Pool and the Castle Farm Recreation Centre will not be re-opened after the current Covid pandemic closure, unless the works to either building described elsewhere in this report are not progressed or they are significantly delayed."

In short, the recommendations state that a design has been finalised, an initial cost has been estimated, but the council should begin the procurement process before the applications have been approved in order to gain a more exact figure. And finally that the pool nor the recreation centre should reopen again.

Why shouldn't the leisure centre reopen?

The proposal to the council states that it is not cost effective for the Abbey Fields Leisure Centre to reopen following the latest lockdown, stating that if the recommendations are approved by the executive then demolition is "likely" to start "in the second half of 2021."

The report also states that the slow uptake of customers at the end of the first lockdown in 2020 also adds to the notion that it would not be cost effective to reopen.

"It is currently not clear when leisure centres in Warwickshire will be permitted to re-open. After the first lockdown in 2020 ended, attendance at the two leisure centres in Kenilworth took longer to recover and figures fell short of the pre lockdown levels by a significant margin.

"At the present time the uncertainties of the pandemic mean that both centres are operating at a loss and the council is supporting Everyone Active to remain open whenever restrictions allow, in order to continue to make a fitness offer to local residents.

"When it is clear what date leisure centres will be permitted to reopen and it is also clear what date the two Kenilworth facilities are likely to close for demolition, it is likely that it will not be cost effective to open the facilities between the two dates.

"It is likely that the costs of re-opening and attempting to encourage customers to return will not be a cost effective use of the council's resources, given the short amount of time before the facilities are due to close again."

The report does intimate that should works be delayed then the council could revisit the decision to close both centres.

"If for any reason the works to either or both facilities are not progressed, or if the demolition of either building is significantly delayed, then this decision will be revisited."

Timeline

As stated, the above recommendations are yet to be approved, and will be discussed by the executive of the district council on February 11.

If all the recommendations are approved then WDC is proposing the following timeline for development:

February 2021 - Commence procurement process

June 2021 - Select preferred demolition and construction contractors

September 2021 - Start on site (demolition)

December 2022 - Abbey Fields Swimming Pool opens