Sports village on horizon as council plans leisure review

Last night the cash-strapped council warned, however, it was also proposing to review how it runs its sports and leisure centres across the borough to see if savings could be made if it entered into a partnership with a trust or other organisation to run them.

Coun Tom Fox, leader of Scarborough Borough Council, said yesterday: “The sports village is the biggest leisure development this council has planned to date and it is a very exciting project.

“It is now very important that councillors consider and make decisions on the development agreements and other financial and legal aspects.

“With the review of how all our leisure facilities are operated also underway, we have a fantastic opportunity to ensure we can provide a sustainable future for sports and leisure throughout our borough.”

Plans to create a community stadium, paving the way for senior football to return to the seaside town, and leisure facilities including a floodlit games area, on the former Weaponness coach and car park will be discussed by councillors on Monday, in private, as the report contains sensitive commercial information.

Property developer, Wrenbridge Land Limited, has been chosen as a preferred bidder.

The project includes a new football ground for Scarborough Athletic FC, which has been forced to play its home games at Bridlington, owing to a lack of facilities.

Dave Holland, chair of Scarborough Athletic, added: “We’re hopeful that we can now finalise the practical details that will ensure a sustainable return to Scarborough for our successful community football club.”

It will be paid from a combination of the sale of council land, potential grants, together with borrowing up to £6.3m, which the council says will be offset by reduced running costs of the new site.

The local authority will also review how it runs all of its sports and leisure facilities across the whole borough to see whether keeping them under council management offers the best value for money.