Agenda item

The following documents have been attached for information:

·      Halo’s Questionnaire and Report from the Leisure Services Survey (Pages 41 – 59)

·      Chairman’s report on the Pool in the Park site visit (Pages 61 - 64)

·      Current 2019/20 and draft 20/21 Business Plans (Pages 65 - 100)

·      Woking Fees & Charges 2019/20 & Draft 2020/21 (Pages 101 - 118)

Reporting Person: Councillor D Hughes / David Loveless / Steve May - Freedom Leisure

The Chairman introduced David Loveless, building Services Manager and the Freedom Leisure representatives – Steve May, Area Manager, Angela Baillie, Contracts Manager and Matt Hunt, Operation Director.  The Committee reviewed all the documents sent out with the agenda.  Following the change of date for the Pool in the Park site visit and those who could not attend, Steve extended the invite to all councillors for a site visit to make contact with himself.

The Chairman highlighted to councillors to flag any areas of concern that may affect residents within the fees and charges report as it would be valuable to address at the Leisure Partnership Board on Thursday 24 October.  Cllr Kemp  wondered whether there was a duplication of the work already undertaken and planned for the Partnership Board and the use of officers time. However the request by the Chair was specifically in respect to the fees and charges which supported the Borough’s aspiration of enhancing the use of these facilities by the designated target groups as stated in the Business Plan.

Angela provided a presentation on a general update on Freedom Leisure’s performance following recent investment.  Angela addressed the condition of the changing rooms that were due to be refurbished and the contract was currently out to tender.  Other topics covered included Woking Sportsbox, work with disability groups to ensure an inclusive service and the new 3G pitches at the Leisure Centre.  Concerns that were made apparent from the questionnaire results were addressed, such as the pool temperature and flume work – both are now resolved.  It was also reported that the catering outlet had received a five star rating from the Environmental Health Office, Freedom Leisure’s Friday Night Project was a resounding success and the summer camps had received a “Good” rating from Ofsted.  The presentation slides would be circulated with the minutes.

It was suggested that future surveys would be presented by facility to see the different areas that require addressing at Pool in the Park and the Leisure Centre individually.  Councillors noted the positive news of the refurbishment and improvements that had been made to date.

Feedback was received from users of Pool in the Park, which Freedom Leisure addressed and it was agreed the methods of communication would be looked into and developed to avoid future miscommunication.  Angela had recently been in contact with Andy Denner, Woking Borough Council’s Marketing Manager, in regards to working in sync, utilising the Woking magazine and working on a Communication Action Plan to promote the improvement works.  It was noted by the Vice Chair that he prices she deemed  as good value for money and there were a variety of schemes available for users to achieve a discount.

Following a question raised by Councillor Whitehand regarding the impacts of the two new leisure facilities within the borough would have on Pool in the Park.  Steve confirmed that many of their programmes and classes were overprescribed and there is a high demand for leisure facilities in Woking. 

The Chairman thanked Freedom Leisure colleagues for their time and would write a report to update the Leisure Partnership Board to help support their work on Thursday.