In 2008, Knight Kavanagh & Page delivered a detailed review of built leisure facilities for North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC). This process, which is closely linked into and was managed in partnership with the Authority's ‘Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme team has resulted in an action plan for replacement, refurbishment and rationalisation of facilities and provides a framework for the linkages between Council's and school-site based provision.

At present, just 18.5% of North East Lincolnshire's community participates in regular exercise; this is well below the national average and has a significant impact on the health statistics for this area. (Data from the Active People Survey: Sport England).

Consultation and site visits across the Authority area informed the audit and assessment of Council stock and identified key issues in relation to location, longevity and suitability.

It confirmed that many facilities are coming to the end of their life and are (or will soon be) inefficient to operate and maintain. It also assessed their relevance in the context of community need and whether new, community use orientated facilities located on school sites could be used to address the issue.

At the core of the review was the recognition that its BSF investment is the most significant opportunity NELC will have to change the face of community sports provision; at the same time, raising the Authority's profile on the national sporting map.

Bringing together two major development programmes will create a very real chance to fully capitalise on both external funding available via the BSF programme and the Council's internal capital funding to refocus its sport and physical activity offer for residents.

KKP's work will ensure that planning for local facility provision and that sports facilities developed as a result of BSF-based investment are wholly community facing. It will make a serious contribution to raising levels of participation is fundamental to the Council's achievement of national and local targets.

In North East Lincolnshire, recommendations included closure of ageing and expensive to operate facilities that will become a drain on resources, alongside creation of new venues, managed in the right way, serving specific local communities - predominantly located on school sites.

Working with Edge Architects, KKP also prepared concept master-plans and designs for replacement and new provision on all key sites (http://www.edgearchitects.co.uk)

The Council now plans to invest £15.1m on improved provision in the area, in tandem with expenditure already earmarked in its BSF portfolio.

Sue Wells, Deputy Director Community & Support said,

"The main aim of the review and its recommendations was to ensure that our facilities are fit for purpose - for the next 25 years. Linking the outcomes of the review with the BSF programme, is an ideal opportunity to develop a fully integrated portfolio and to fully exploit the potential for greater community access to sports and leisure facilities within schools, at times when they are not needed for core school activity."

"We have been impressed with the speed with which KKP fully addressed the brief, got to the heart of the issues and came up with appropriate solutions. We quickly built a strong working relationship with its team; the members of which gave us confidence at every stage of this time critical project, delivering an incisive, practical, high quality report - on time."

For further details, please contact David McHendry, Principal Consultant, Email: david.mchendry@kkp.co.uk  

Read more about the Review in Leisure Opportunities