By striking a deal with a local housing developer, Hartlepool council have created a new sports centre in spite of austerity
One of the final projects I was involved in before I finished my time as the elected mayor of Hartlepool was a new leisure development on the outskirts of town. The sports domes at Seaton Carew are the first of their kind in this country, and the financial model that enabled the development is beginning to capture the attention of other local authorities.
The majority of the development is housed in two giant inflatable domes which, once the foundations had been put it, only took two hours to erect. The smaller of the domes contains a golf complex including a driving range, mini golf and state-of-the-art golf simulators. The larger dome contains a football pitch that rivals anything used by premiership teams.
The inflatable structures are far less expensive to construct than a traditional brick building, cheaper to run and extremely green. The real beauty of them, though, is their versatility. You can put virtually anything inside them. Organisations looking at a wide range of uses have already expressed an interest – from an indoor go-karting track and skate park to tennis courts and a swimming pool. Plans are soon to be submitted for a third dome, which will contain an ice rink and concert venue.
Every council would like shiny new facilities such as the sports domes, but in these times of austerity it is far more likely that they are facing having to close their sports and leisure centres rather than build new ones. So, we had to approach this project a little bit differently.
The entire development was built and is run by a local entrepreneur. It was funded by the sale of some land to a housing developer, but the land had a covenant that did not allow for housing development. In order to release the covenant, the council negotiated a deal where it becomes a silent partner in the leisure business. That is to say, the council receives a generous percentage of the profit of the business with a guaranteed minimum income should there be no profit. All of the risk, liabilities and running costs fall entirely on the owner of the domes.
Overall, the town gets a fantastic leisure development and some much-needed housing, and the council gets a new income stream. There is also a partnership with the local college to provide a number of apprenticeships, partnerships with schools and GPs to provide health and activity programs, and more than 30 new jobs created to date. Hartlepool has found itself a fabulous model than can easily be replicated anywhere.
I have been so excited by this project that I am now working with the people behind the sports domes and promoting this new concept to local authorities around the country. I truly believe that this new and innovative solution to the increasing problem of leisure provision by councils can work anywhere.
Ultimately, I'd love to be involved in opening up a factory in this country to manufacture these versatile structures. Where would it be housed? In an inflatable dome of course.
Stuart Drummond was elected mayor of Hartlepool until May 2013
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