Council can't afford another £5 million for sports hall in Houghton Regis after £25 million leisure centre investment

Local councillors say the lack of a sports hall in the town’s new £25m leisure centre has caused problems for some clubs and organisations, which used the old facility.

Setting up a task and finish group to examine how to fund a sports hall formed part of a requested item from Reform UK Houghton Regis East councillor Pat Hamill to CBC’s sustainable communities overview and scrutiny committee.

Although unable to attend its meeting, he wrote: “We don’t have a full-time sports hall provision for Houghton Regis residents.

“We need to discuss funding a sports hall that delivers for this community. The part-time offer in the control of Houstone and under the management of Schools Plus isn’t a provision that fits in with this council’s leisure strategy.”

Houghton Regis Town Council clerk Clare Evans told the committee it would welcome CBC considering any other options for a sports hall locally, “which would be available for residents morning to evening, seven days a week”.

Independent Biggleswade West councillor Steve Watkins replied: “The decision taken to build the new leisure centre and use the sports hall in Houstone School is the right one.

“It’s a model replicated elsewhere. There are always teething troubles. The decision took into account the growing population. We plan everything using the Sport England modelling data.

“It would be madness and financial suicide for us to do otherwise. The decision recognised there would be changes for some of the customers who couldn’t be accommodated at the school hall. Alternative venues are being agreed with users.

“Most of the customers moving there benefit from spaces which better suit their needs. Badminton, archery and football are operating in the sports hall.

“We’re working with the school to ensure the community can use all the sports facilities, not just the sports hall, while considering how we can expand the number of weeks of availability under the community use agreement.

“The old sports hall in Houghton Regis was only used 32 per cent of the time on average. I’m happy to support the town council around alternative funding streams, if there’s anything out there.

“But this council doesn’t have the ability to spend another £5m on a stand alone sports hall,” added executive member for assets, business and housing councillor Watkins.

“The town council raised its precept by 16 per cent last year, increasing that by £300,000, which is a luxury. If it borrowed £5m from the public works loan board, it would cost £250,000 a year to service this.”

The Central Bedfordshire Community Network Houghton Regis East councillor Tracey McMahon explained: “The decision to have the model with no sports hall for team provision has had no feedback from ward members or this committee.

“We should be having input to ensure the unintended consequences don’t happen in the first place.”

Conservative Dunstable West councillor Nigel Young, who chairs the committee, said: “We don’t have the power to interfere in operational issues.

“The matter can be resolved without reports being written. We’ll hear back from the portfolio holder in six months.”