Councillor Pat Patel (Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Culture, Leisure & Sport) introduced the report on Brickfields and highlighted:-

a)    The report set out the £21 million investment in Brickfields that would not only transform the site but also the opportunities available to the Devonport communities and across the city, as well as providing new opportunities for Plymouth’s professional sports clubs;

b)    The project had been developed cross party and in partnership with Plymouth Argyle Football Club, Plymouth Argyle Community Trust, Plymouth Albion  and Devonport Community Leisure Trust;

c)    It would increase participation in grassroots rugby;

d)    Plymouth Argyle Football Club and Plymouth Argyle Community Trust would be investing £18 million;

e)    The project showed the ambition for better access to facilities for local people, and a commitment to improve their health and wellbeing;

Andrew Parkinson (Chief Executive Officer, Plymouth Argyle Football Club) and Mark Lovell (Chief Executive, Plymouth Argyle Community Trust) added:-

f)     The project would enhance and underused site and would improve facilities for the local community, whilst also providing and exemplar multi-sport venue for Plymouth Argyle Football Club and Plymouth Albion, amongst others, to use;

g)    One of the aims was to be able to attract, retain and develop the best sporting talent in the city as well as connecting the local community with the site through a hub;

h)    Plymouth Argyle Community Trust, along with partners had engaged with local people and the themes that emerged was a desire for indoor spaces, improved outdoor spaces, a community offering at a low cost, versatility, health and wellbeing, open spaces, café and youth engagement;

i)     There would be two floodlit play zones which would be open to the community as well as a full size 3G rugby pitch, the only one in the city, as well as a full size 3G football pitched which would have community usage;

j)     The athletics track would be retailed and a 3G covered indoor pitch, the first in the south west, all of which would be connected by active walkways around the complex;

k)    A dedicated site would be provided for the displaced hockey group;

l)     A community hub would be available on site with a health and wellbeing offering, a centralised youth zone for young people to access with education and employment opportunities, hub breakout spaces for social interaction and family engagement, increased formal and informal activities on site, improved gym offering at a low cost with increased hours of access;

m)  Plymouth City Council would retain the freehold and there would be three leases: Plymouth Argyle Football Club, Plymouth Argyle Community Trust and Plymouth Albion;

n)    The operational community aspects would be overseen by the trust with a deed granting easement over the common areas and there would be regular meetings with a board of key stakeholders;

o)    Plymouth Argyle is trusted within Plymouth and the Plymouth Argyle Community Trust had a proven record within the city at Manadon in developing community facilities and would be applying for grants that wouldn’t otherwise be able to be accessed;

Max Venables (Managing Director, Plymouth Albion) added:-

p)    The aspirations of the three organisations had aligned and they had a good working relationship and had been working together on the deal for around 2 years;

q)    It was important to get a multi-sports facility to ensure the facilities would be used more often;

r)    Thanked Ruth Harrell, David Draffan, Liz Slater and Matt Ward for their work on making the deal happen;

Matt Ward (Head of Strategic Development Projects) added:-

s)     Plymouth City Council, as landlord, would be able to ensure provisions were met with regards to community access and ongoing community use;

t)     Pre-application discussions had taken place with the planning team and the planning application was expected in later 2023 in order for work to begin on site in early 2024;

The Leader added:-

u)    Thanks to all the officers involved in the project;

v)    Thanks to Plymouth Argyle and Plymouth Albion, who the city were proud off, for coming together on such an incredible project;

w)   Data on health outcomes and inner city deprivation showed a need for projects like this one.

The Cabinet agreed to:-

1.    Approve the grant of leases for land at Brickfields to each of the following parties on the terms set out in Part II of this report: - Plymouth Argyle Football Club; - Plymouth Argyle Community Trust; and - Plymouth Albion Rugby Football Club;

2.    Note the proposed termination of the tenancy between Plymouth Active Leisure Limited and Devonport Community Leisure Limited and delegates authority to the Director of Public Health to agree any resulting changes to the agreement between Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd and the Council;
 

3.    Approve the termination of the services currently provided at Brickfields by Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd and delegates authority to the Director of Public Health to agree any resulting changes to the agreement between Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd and the Council;

4.    Note the possible need for a transfer of relevant staff from Plymouth Active Leisure Ltd to Plymouth Argyle Community Trust;

5.    Approve the termination of the existing leases with Devonport Community Leisure Ltd and City of Plymouth Athletics Club;

6.    Note the reprovision of facilities for pétanque on land at Stonehouse Creek;

7.    Approve a commitment from the Council to support the provision of facilities for hockey, to mitigate the loss of the sand based artificial grass pitch;

8.    Approve and make an allocation for the provision of up to £2,752,903 of capital funding for the project and delegates authority to the Director of Public Health to agree the terms for the grant, subject to legal advice being obtained that no issues arise under the Subsidy regime;

9.    Note the relocation of the health and wellbeing hub from the Cumberland Centre to the new community wellbeing and sports hub;

10.  Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health and the Strategic Director for Place to agree the terms of the leases, transfer of staff and all other documents associated with this transaction and subsequent redevelopment of the site, including (but not limited to) any easement, wayleave, grant funding agreement, or any other third party agreements, including any agreements intended to protect community uses;

11.  Delegate authority to the Director of Public Health and the Strategic Director for Place to consider, at the relevant time, whether the conditions set out in section 5 of the Part I report have been met;

12.  Delegate authority to the Cabinet Member for Customer Services, Leisure & Sport to waive any of the conditions set out in section 5 of the Part I report, if this is considered appropriate on advice from officers from Legal Services.