‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ for Arun leisure centres

Arun District Council’s housing and wellbeing committee agreed to use £289,127 from the council’s COVID-19 contingency fund to offset leisure losses on Thursday (March 17).

If approved by the policy and finance committee, this would offset operating fees for April to September 2021 which were due to be paid by Freedom Leisure to the council.

ADC qualified for the Government’s Income Compensation scheme between April and June, but this support did not continue which means the council has to foot £289,127 in leisure operating fees due to closures.

Arun’s leisure centres experienced periods of government mandated closures from March 2020 and were only able to fully reopen from July 25 last year.

But Freedom Leisure’s surpluses leading up to November means it can pay ADC £216,045 worth of operating fees for October to December.

It is also expected to be able to pay the fees due for January to March this year but rising energy costs and cost of living increases could ‘pose future risks’ to payments.

Robin Wickham, group head of community wellbeing at Arun District Council, said: “Over the past couple of years, this income has been tainted by the restrictions posed by the pandemic.

“However, it is extremely positive to note that as we emerge from this particularly difficult period, there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Visitor levels climbing back up

Visitor numbers are now at 80 per cent when compared to pre-pandemic levels, though memberships have been ‘slower to build’ and remain at 79 per cent.

Freedom Leisure’s ‘learn to swim’ programmes have seen ‘strong performance’ and numbers have exceeded pre-pandemic levels.

“This has been a challenging and bruising period for the leisure contract,” Mr Wickham said, “and there’ll be challenges ahead with soaring inflation and fuel costs.”

Council ‘took a brave decision’

Committee chair and deputy council leader Jacky Pendleton (Con, Middleton-on-Sea) said the council took a ‘brave decision’ to support the leisure operator.

“I think the sort of facility that provides our residents with the opportunity for improving their health, improving their exercise, has to be a good option,” she said.

“We are actually in a very fortunate position because a lot of these places have closed and we’ve still got ours.

“The council took a brave decision and it was the right decision.”

Green councillor Isabel Thurston (Barnham) said the decision to support Freedom Leisure ‘felt like a gamble at the time’ but it has since ‘paid off’.

Gill Madeley (Con, Felpham West) said: “I think we have to support this because it’s the leisure facility for our general public and it’s through no fault of their own this has happened.”

The leisure contract is a significant source of income for the council – It brought in more than £2.67 million between 2016 and 2020 and is expected to bring in a further £4 million between 2022 and 2026.

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