'Unaffordable' £1.46m Berkhamsted Leisure Centre plans could be scrapped

Between 2020 and 2022, the previous Conservative administration allocated £1.46m for four separate stages of a feasibility study for a new centre and a public consultation was carried out.

But a report drawn up for the current Liberal Democrat minority administration says that the estimated £40m cost for a new centre is “unaffordable” and led the authority to “reconsider and explore the option of investment in the existing estate”.

A paper prepared ahead of a committee meeting on Tuesday (3 June) outlines a new plan for the council to instead spend £25m refurbishing the existing Berkhamsted and Hemel Hempstead leisure centres.

The committee will provide feedback on the proposals before they go to the council’s cabinet, with a council spokesperson saying a “formal decision” would be made in July.

If they go ahead, around £14.65m will be spent improving Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre and £4.69m spent refurbishing Berkhamsted Leisure Centre. Project management costs could reach up to a further £2m.

The project could include improving all pool changing areas, retiling swimming pool tanks, remodelling the reception and café areas, replacing the flooring in the sports halls, and adding new fun water areas and flumes at Hemel Hempstead.

The council has allocated £28m in its medium term financial strategy for leisure centre works.

Council officers said “uncertainty around optimum site location, acquisition costs and inflationary pressures” mean there is no longer enough funding for a new Berkhamsted leisure centre.

They added that a “variety of potential schemes” for the new centre had been looked at, with the most recent coming in February 2024 – two years after a public consultation was held asking residents for their views on the proposed new centre.

Independent building surveys have shown that even simply maintaining and repairing the existing leisure centres would not be cheap, equating to a cost of £4.2m over the next five years.

But council officers warned: “It is unlikely that Dacorum Borough Council would be able to secure a similar management fee arrangement by a future operator without significant levels of investment in the leisure facilities.”

The centres, which currently see around one million visits a year, are operated by Everyone Active.

Everyone Active have requested that “key income activities are kept open for the duration of the project or as long as possible to minimise loss of income and more importantly loss of membership”.

Council officers suggested that at Hemel Hempstead, for example, gym equipment could be moved into the sports hall while works were carried on the gym itself, and pool closures could be combined to ensure there were always some pools available to members.

The council report said: “This approach will minimise disruption and allow the council to maintain a level of service to residents/users whilst letting the management company remain open and generate income from gym, swim and classes.

“As the programme is still in the planning phase, there is not yet certainty about the sequence of closures or how long each closure would need to last.

“It is assumed that only one centre will be closed at one time and centre closures will be kept to a minimum.”

Most works would take place in 2026/27, with an expected completion date in 2027/28.

When asked, a Dacorum Borough Council spokesperson declined to provide the full amount spent by the authority on investigating options for a new Berkhamsted Leisure Centre.