Harrogate Borough Council is expected to borrow money to fund two projects worth an estimated £26 million as part of its overhaul of leisure services in the district.
The council has linked the investment plan and the part privatisation of the service saying to two come “hand in hand” in order to save money. However, the reality is that the two don’t necessarily have to be connected and the investment in leisure could happen without the partial privatisation if councillors chose to do this.
Two projects are lined up as part of the proposal, including refurbishing the Harrogate Hydro at a cost of £13.5 million and building a new leisure centre at Conyngham Hall in Knaresborough to replace the current site which is estimated to be £13 million.
The schemes would see an investment in current and new leisure facilities which the council said will help to reduce maintenance costs of the Hydro.
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According to a council report due before cabinet, the authority said borrowing for the projects would help to free up funds for its coronavirus financial recovery plan.
It said: “Given the unfunded nature of the capital strategy, beyond the existing five year programme (2020 to 2025), it would be prudent to fund the two schemes by external borrowing (given the council’s heavily under-borrowed position), though there may be potential to finance the design development from internal borrowing.”
When asked whether the council could invest in its facilities without a company, Councillor Stan Lumley, cabinet member for culture, tourism and sport at the authority, said the two go “hand in hand”.
He said: “The two decisions are separate but they go hand in hand.
“We need to invest in our stock to give us the best chance to save on the service. We looked at every option, compared them with each other and decided that this was the best option not just for the council but for the public.
“In order to free up our ability to provide a service, it has to be a commercial service.”
It comes as the authority’s cabinet will vote on handing over services to an arms-length company called Brimham’s Active on Wednesday in order to save money.
If given the go-ahead, it would mean facilities such as Harrogate Hydro, the Turkish Baths and Ripon Leisure Centre would be run by the new company.
The Turkish Baths, Harrogate, is among the facilities earmarked to be handed over to the council-owned company
The council’s services are currently running at a loss of £3.5 million and some centres and swimming pools in the district have increased in cost year on year.
But the leisure plan has been met with opposition from the community in Starbeck over the future of the 150-year-old swimming pool in the area and union’s raised concern over the authority’s consultation process.
Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrats group, said the authority needed to arrive at the right decision over the plan.
She said: “We have not been properly briefed on the proposal, so we have questions about it.
“Whatever decision the council makes it has to be right, because this is not a statutory service and the council does not have to run it.”
The Stray Ferret asked Andrew Jones, MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough, for a comment on the proposal but has not received a response at the time of publication.
