East Renfrewshire Council (ERC) has commissioned Knight, Kavanagh & Page (KKP) to deliver a feasibility study and business plan for the development of an improved fitness offer at Eastwood Park Leisure Centre.

Eastwood Park Leisure Centre is a wet and dry sports facility within the grounds of Eastwood Park. It shares the park with the Council offices, and St. Ninian's High School. The wider leisure offer also includes a 300 seat theatre and a medium sized civic hall. The key sports facilities available on the site include a 40 station action zone, 25 metre swimming pool, health suite with sauna and steam room and café.

The assignment will research the financial viability of the Council investing in the wider fitness provision at the facility. It will also take account of current competition within the area, the propensity of the local community to participate to inform decision making for the future investment in the facility and services it provides to the local community.

KKP is in the ideal position to deliver this study as it recently provided specialist advice and assistance to the Council in its decision not to establish a sport and leisure trust to manage its sports facilities. As such, KKP is au fait with the facility, its design features and layout, as well as with the requirement to improve the fitness offer at the facility.

KKP will work with associates, Edge Architects, on this project. Edge will provide specialist advice in relation to the design review of the proposed facility and the potential capital cost of the development. The architect team has previously worked for DC Leisure, Serco and SLM within this type of area.

Over recent years, KKP has played a pivotal role in the development of a range of sports facilities across the UK:

• We conducted the original feasibility study for a sports village complex in Glasgow, that is now known as the Kelvin Hall Indoor Sports Arena
• We have assessed the feasibility for a number of 50m pool developments such as Leeds, Sunderland and the first 50m pool for Northern Ireland
• We have provided feasibility and business planning support to a number of local authorities looking to develop or redevelop community facilities, such as Tameside, Preston and Wolverhampton.

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