Agenda item - Western Way Project

Report number: CAB/WS/23/041 (Report to follow)

Portfolio holders: Councillors Cliff Waterman, Victor Lukaniuk, Ian Shipp and Diane Hind

Lead officer: Alex Wilson

Recommended to Council: (26 September 2023)

That:

1. The delivery of the Western Way project in Bury St Edmunds be revised as set out in Report number CAB/WS/23/041 and in accordance with the following resolutions.

2. Officers be authorised, in consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Leisure and for Resources, to deliver a refurbishment of the existing Bury St Edmunds Leisure Centre provided that the total cost of these works is fully met by the Council’s already available budgets for the centre and any new third-party funding that can be obtained, as set out in section 3 of Report number CAB/WS/23/041.

3. A budget of £75,000, funded from the Strategic Priorities and Medium-Term Financial Strategy Reserve, be approved to develop an initial business case for alternative options for the Olding Road site.

4. The existing allocation of up to £1 million from the original West Suffolk Operational Hub project towards remediation of the former council depot be retained on an invest-to-save basis in the Council’s Capital Programme to cover the cost of any immediate works to the existing Olding Road site which will add value to this asset and/or reduce holding costs irrespective of which future option for its use is adopted; any expenditure from this allocation to be approved by the Council’s section 151 Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Resources.

5. A provision of up to £2.4 million from the Strategic Priorities and Medium-Term Financial Strategy Reserve be approved to fund any abortive costs arising from the new approach to the Western Way project.

6. The current Section 73 planning application to allow phasing of the original planning consent for Western Way remain on hold until a new decision is reached by Council on the future of the Olding Road site.

7. Officers be authorised to appoint a new external project team and contractor(s) to progress the new approach, within the new spending authorities set out above and in accordance with the Council’s Contract Procedure Rules.

8. The Council’s Section 151 Officer be authorised to make the necessary changes to the Council’s prudential indicators.

(Report number CAB/WS/23/041)

The Leader of the Council presented this report which explained that Phase 1 of the current Western Way (WW) project in Bury St Edmunds had been approved, in principle, by Council in December 2022 and its final target budget was approved by Cabinet in March 2023 (approximately £61 million including land acquisition costs). However, approval to sign a contract and deliver the first stage of the project was subject to financial tests being met after the final stage of tendering with the preferred contractor, Morgan Sindall, in summer 2023. A business case for Phase 2 of the project had not yet been considered by councillors, but a further budget of up to £10 million has been approved to address the remainder of the site in the meantime.

When the new Cabinet was appointed in May 2023, it announced its intention to review the future of the Western Way project in the light of changed economic circumstances. This report was the outcome of those deliberations by the Cabinet.

After careful consideration, it was proposed by Cabinet to cancel the Western Way project. This would stop all work on a new leisure centre and defer a decision on the Olding Road site, until further reports were received. To ensure the ongoing security of leisure facilities for Bury St Edmunds and a large catchment, it was proposed that essential refurbishment works took place to the current Bury Leisure Centre (BLC) instead. This would guarantee its security as a facility for the medium-term.

An Addendum to Report number CAB/WS/23/041 had also been circulated to the Cabinet, where the Council’s three Statutory Officers had carried out a subsequent analysis of the report to ensure that it contained all of the necessary information on opportunities, risks and financial implications. The Addendum summarised that analysis.

It was also reported that there was a typographical error contained within the report circulated to Councillors by post (which had already been amended in the online version). In relation to paragraph 3.4(ii) reference to ‘Anglia Community Leisure’ should actually read ‘Abbeycroft Leisure’.

Councillors Ian Shipp (Portfolio Holder for Leisure), Diane Hind (Portfolio Holder for Resources) and Victor Lukaniuk (Deputy Leader of the Council) also spoke on this item and drew relevant issues to the attention of the Cabinet, particularly around the importance of continuing to work with partners, the challenges of the current economic climate and the risks associated with such a large investment.