Saintfield’s £3.2m leisure centre will start next year

Saintfield’s £3.2m leisure centre will start next year

17 February 2016

WORK on Saintfield’s new £3.2m leisure and community centre is due to get underway next year.

And in what councillors view as an exciting model for the future, private sector firms have expressed an interest in working alongside Newry, Mourne and Down Council to not only help deliver the ultra-modern facility, but run it.

The future of the project was discussed at a council meeting last week when councillors were told the Saintfield proposal has the potential to be self-sustaining as a result of a “unique and innovative social enterprise model” which can produce a return for the local authority’s capital investment in the project.

The new centre has the potential to lever in the region of £1.25m in private investment, which will significantly lower the capital cost of the project to the district’s ratepayers.

A business case for the new centre insists it will be financially self-sustaining, requiring no ongoing local authority subvention, representing a saving of up to £100,000 a year, based on the previously approved Down Council proposal for the facility. 

The business case also suggests there is a potential return on investment for the council from a profit-share negotiated with the new private provider.

A number of providers of leisure and fitness services are interested in forming a partnership with the local authority to help deliver the new facility, working alongside Saintfield Development Association which has been in discussions with two private sector providers who have expressed an interest in operating a fitness suite and possibly other sports facilities.

A full economic appraisal of the project will now be completed examining cost, revenue and capital input from the selected private sector partner.

Last week, members of the local authority’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee agreed to appoint a dedicated officer to oversee the eagerly awaited Saintfield development which will be built at the site of a former warehouse containing three buildings.

One of the buildings will be remodelled to provide meeting rooms and a four court sports hall, while the largest of the buildings will be transformed to provide a 4G indoor multi-purpose training area to accommodate the training needs of all local sports clubs. The smaller of the three buildings will be leased to a private firm to provide a fitness suite.

The new centre will be run by a management committee including representatives of sports clubs and the Development Association, with the day-to-day operation of the centre run by a private tenant with proven business and leisure expertise.

Many of the centre’s activities will be co-ordinated by the Active Saintfield group which is a consortium of sports clubs in the area, supported by Newry, Mourne and Down Council staff. Councillor Robert Burgess, chairman of the Strategic Policy and Resources Committee, is delighted the Saintfield scheme will progress to meet the leisure and community needs of the people in the town and surrounding area.

He said the the positive interest from the private sector will help reduce the amount of finance ratepayers will have to provide to deliver the eagerly-anticipated new community centre.

Councillor Burgess added: “The significant interest in this particular scheme from private sector providers of leisure and fitness cannot be underestimated. The campaign for the new centre was launched many years ago and is drawing ever closer to completion. The work of everyone involved in this scheme over a long period of time will soon be rewarded.

“Significant progress has been made and with a timetable now in place towards delivery of the much-needed new centre. 

It will soon become a reality and Saint-field will have an ultra-modern facility, something the people of the town and surrounding area can be proud of and deserve.”