Agenda item

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is provided with the Part A Cabinet report setting out decisions to be considered by the Executive Mayor on the provision of a new Purley Pool through the redevelopment of Purley High Street Car Park and Leisure Centre. The Committee is asked to: -

1.    Review the information provided in the Part A & Part B report on a new Purley Pool: Redevelopment Purley High Street Carpark and Leisure Centre, and

2.    Decide whether there are any comments or recommendations on the scheme to bring to the attention of the Mayor during his consideration of the report.

The Committee considered a Part A report set out on pages 3 to 26 of the agenda supplement that set out decisions to be considered by the Mayor at the Cabinet meeting on 25 October 2023 regarding the delivery of a new pool for Purley. This report was included on the agenda for the Committee to review the proposals for delivering one of the key manifesto commitments of the Mayor and provide comment prior to the decision being taken.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Chief Executive, Katherine Kerswell, Corporate Director for Sustainable Communities, Regeneration and Economic Recovery, Nick Hibberd and Interim Director of Commercial Investment & Capital, Huw Rhys-Lewis were in attendance for this item at the meeting.

During the introduction to the report, the following points were noted: -

• The site on Purley High Street had several uses including that of a leisure centre and a car park.
• The leisure centre had initially closed during the pandemic and there had been subsequent issues with the condition of the venue which meant it was no longer fit for purpose.
• The developer, Polaska, had held a long-term leasehold on the site and would be bringing forward a development that would include the provision of a new leisure centre and public square.

Following the introduction, the Chair confirmed that both her and the Vice-Chair had the opportunity to visit the site earlier in the day, which had provided visual confirmation of the poor condition of the leisure centre facilities and the level of work required.

It was confirmed that it was difficult to set out a timetable for the development of a new leisure centre at this stage in the process. If the recommendations were agreed by the Mayor at Cabinet, then officers would enter into legal discussions for the development with Polaska, who would also continue to progress the planning aspect of the project. Until these steps were completed, it was difficult to give certainty on the timescales.

In response to a question about the loss of car parking on the site, it was advised that the parking need for the new development would be considered as part of the planning process. Since the pandemic, the site had not seen the same level of parking need and work would be undertaken to find a balance between the provision of resident and public parking.

It was confirmed that the initial costs allocated from Community Infrastructure Levy funds for an options appraisal of the site had not been incurred. There had been some cost for surveying the site to inform the likely scale of the investment required, but that was a necessary part of the process.

At the conclusion of the item, the Chair thanked the Cabinet Member and officers for their engagement with the questions of the Committee.

Conclusions

Having reviewed the report and the information provided at the meeting, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee reached the following conclusions on the A New Purley Pool: The Redevelopment of Purley High Street Car Park and Leisure Centre Report: -

1.     Having been informed by a visit to the former Purley Pool site, the Committee was reassured that the proposed option of the Council working with a developer to regenerate the site was the best option for delivering a new leisure centre facility in Purley.

2.     The Committee agreed that additional reassurance could be taken from the Council having the ability to claw back control of the land if there was a situation where the developer was not able to deliver the leisure centre on the site.

3.     The Committee extended its thanks to officers from both the Council and GLL for facilitating its visit to the Purley Pool site and to local Ward Councillor Simon Brew, for joining the visit and providing his local insight.