(a)

Plymouth Life Centre –

?

internal works were progressing well, including the tiling, changing rooms and sanitary wares, the glazed balustrades and the specialist lighting;

?

works due for completion by the end of November 2011, included –

u

the external cladding

u

the final water fill of the main swimming pool

u

main swimming pool seating

u

installation of the specialist sprung floors in the main hall and the multi purpose dance studios

?

the Programme Director’s report stated that the project was on programme for a practical completion on 16 January 2012 and still remained on budget; (Councillor Bowyer noted that we had recently been made aware that there would be a slight delay in the practical completion date and this would not e reached on 27 February 2012);

?

members of the panel had visited the site and building on 25 October 2011;

(b)

Leisure Management Contract –

?

Everyone Active continued to develop the mobilisation of the Plymouth Life Centre and had brought in a number of new resources including a sales manager, an activities manager and a manager for Brickfields and Plympton Pool;

?

the SHOKK gym within Brickfields Sport Centre would be relocated from the ground floor to the first floor (adjacent to the main gym); this would improve attendance and reduce staffing costs);

?

an Everyone Active’s visitor booth would be installed in the foyer of the Mayflower Centre to handle enquiries;

?

details of the recommended opening hours for Plympton swimming pool and Brickfields Sports Centre were provided;

(d)

Events Field -

?

the design and delivery of the new events field formed part of phase 2 of the Plymouth Life contract; once the scheme had been developed it would be shared with the panel;

(e)

Skate Park –

?

the skate park had opened to the public on 29 October 2011;

?

the handover of the project had been slightly delayed but it had been delivered within budget;

?

feedback received from users had been extremely positive.

(f)

Sports and Leisure Management Limited (SLM) was formed in 1987 and was the company behind Everyone Active; Everyone Active operated and managed local leisure centres (18 local authority contracts and 60 managed sites across the country) and had won a number of awards including ‘Inspiring Clubs Award’;

(g)

Everyone Active’s mission was to encourage everyone to participate in 30 minutes of moderate  physical activity five times a week;

(h)

Everyone Active had been operating/managing Plympton swimming pool and Brickfields Sports Centre since 1 September 2011;

(i)

with regard to Plympton swimming pool several changes had been implemented, which included –

?

the temperature of the water had been increased;

?

the pool programme had been changed to include dedicated swimming lanes; 700 people had enrolled for swimming lessons compared previously to 480;

(j)

customer feedback had been positive and attendance levels at the pool were steadily increasing;

(k)

an investment of £10,000 had been made at both sites for branding, signage, etc;

(l)

the Plymouth Life Centre was the most exciting leisure facility in the United Kingdom and was the flagship for both the city and the company;

(m)

the gym facility would contain 157 stations and fitted with equipment that would appeal to all ages (including full internet access);

(n)

equipment would be provided for visual impaired users, and rehabilitation kit for people with medical conditions;

(o)

it was anticipated that one million people would visit the centre in the first year.

(p)

operational issues relating to the use of the car park on Plymouth Argyle match days would need to be addressed;

(q)

a health and wellbeing manager had been appointed to the senior management team of Everyone Active; the manager would work closely with GPs and health professionals in providing a service which would offer exercise programmes, referral and pain management in order to enable people to return to work;

(r)

a multi purpose functional meeting room at Brickfields would be reinstated on the ground floor which had previously been occupied by the SHOKK gym;

(s)

currently applications to become a member of the Plymouth Life Centre and to register for a free Everyone Active card could only be done online, however  a visitor centre would be based in the Mayflower Centre to deal with all enquires;

(t)

data from the Everyone Active membership card could be used to understand who used the centre, at what time, the activities undertaken and the area in which the individuals lived; to encourage people to become more active or to target priority areas discount cards or incentives could be provided;

(u)

the information provided by Everyone Active would be extremely useful in targeting areas of the city and working with GPs and health professionals;

(v)

the scope to subsidise bus routes in the medium term was limited; however, if there was a requirement for a new bus service and it was commercially viable then it could be provided by the bus operators;

(w)

the practical completion date for the centre was 27 February 2012 with an anticipated opening date of 24/25 March 2012;

(x)

a meeting would be held with Plymouth Argyle Football Club regarding the management of the car park;

(y)

a written response would be provided to the panel regarding the relationship of the Business Improvement District for the Plymouth Waterfront (which included Mount Wise and Tinside) and Everyone Active;

(z)

people had the opportunity to register for My Everyone Active, which created individual activity plans;  if monthly targets were achieved for the activities undertaken, such as cycling to the centre, walking the dog, etc then rewards for those achievements would be given such as a free cup of coffee or a free swim;

(aa)

the procurement process had commenced for a partner to deliver the ice provision for the city; the existing ice provision would remain open until the new facility had been delivered in order to maintain continuity;

(bb)

a revenue budget pressure had been identified for 2012/13, as a result of maintaining the existing ice provision until the new facility had been delivered; this would be managed as part of the overall budget setting;

(cc)

local jobs had been created at the Brickfields Sports Centre.