Community stadium firm could also be in charge of leisure centres (From York Press)

Community stadium firm could also be in charge of leisure centres

9:30am Wednesday 4th January 2012 in Community stadium news By Mark Stead, Political Reporter

THE company chosen to run York’s community stadium could also be put in charge of the city’s other council-owned leisure facilities.

Officers at City of York Council are set to be asked to start the search for a firm to operate and maintain the proposed new home for York City FC and York City Knights at Monks Cross.

The authority’s cabinet member for leisure, culture and social inclusion, Coun Sonja Crisp, will also decide next week whether a contract for running the stadium and the neighbouring Waterworld pool should include responsibility for operating Energise leisure centre and Yearsley Swimming Pool, with the aim of cutting costs and unlocking extra investment.

Oakgate (Monks Cross) Ltd’s outline planning application for the 6,000-seater venue on the site of the existing Huntington Stadium, as well as a retail complex boasting John Lewis and Marks & Spencer stores, is set to go before the council’s planning committee within weeks. A full business case for the stadium’s operation will be presented to the authority’s cabinet in March.

A report by Charlie Croft, the council’s assistant director for communities and culture, and stadium project manager Tim Atkins, said the procurement process, if approved, would identify a preferred bidder - which it said could be a social enterprise - by next January, and the contract would begin next April.

“There is a need for an investment strategy for the city’s leisure facilities to ensure their long-term sustainability,” said the report.

“This is particularly the case with the facilities at the Huntington Stadium site – Waterword, Courtneys gym and the stadium – where there has been limited investment over the last 14 years.

“A unique opportunity exists to secure this much-needed investment by including the operation of the city’s leisure facilities – Energise and Yearsley – as part of a community leisure contract.”

The report said appointing a company purely to run the stadium would not be “commercially desirable”, but the chosen contractor could bring in specialists to concentrate on operating the venue or allow City or the Knights to do it.