Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alan Bell, Katie Chalmers, Viven Edge, Deborah Evans and Paul Skinner

Councillor Paul Goodale declared an interest as a Member of the Boston Town Deal Board, but confirmed he had not participated in the debate or vote on the Business Cases when considered by the Town Board.

Councillor Stephen Woodliffe raised a Point of Order that the report laid before the meeting had not been subject to Member consultation and full scrutiny and Council should not be asked to make open ended commitments without the project having been fully scrutinised.  The comments were supported by Councillors Bedford, Dorrian and Rush.

The Deputy Chief Executive – Growth, also acting as Monitoring Officer for the meeting, responded that the purpose of the Council meeting was to consult all Members on the projects to seek views and comments prior to final decision by Cabinet on 30 March, as the function rested with the Executive not Council.

The decision to be made by Cabinet was to submit a bid to Government for the funding allocated to the Leisure Project as part of the Towns Fund projects, not to commit expenditure for the Geoff Moulder Leisure Centre.

Council had previously agreed to add the Leisure Project to the Capital Programme and further detail of the project would evolve after the funding had been secured from the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities.  The remaining projects subject of the reports were externally led.

Councillors Peter Bedford and Stephen Woodliffe left the meeting at 6.40 p.m.

(A report by the Deputy Chief Executive – Programme Delivery)

It was moved by Councillor Nigel Woodliffe, seconded by Councillor Tracey Abbott and

RESOLVED that the meeting be adjourned for up to one hour to allow for a presentation to be delivered to Members and an opportunity for a question and answer session prior to formal debate.

The meeting resumed at 7.55 p.m.

A.        Boston Leisure Project

Councillor Nigel Welton introduced a report by the Assistant Director – Planning and Strategic Infrastructure providing details on a proposal to transform the existing Geoff Moulder Leisure Centre site through significant remodeling and refurbishment to provide improved facilities to support the wider area’s health and wellbeing.

The Boston Leisure Project was proposed to be brought forward in collaboration with the Mayflower (Boston College) which was the flagship Towns Fund project.  The proposed location of the Mayflower centre was adjacent to the Leisure Centre and provided a distinct opportunity to enable wider regeneration of both sites including Rowley Road and the areas adjacent to the Maud Foster Drain. 

The combined project aimed to create a single site/campus/village with the potential to address Boston’s health, education, leisure and well-being needs, as well as meeting the requirements of the Towns Fund for regeneration of place and providing improved facilities for residents both in the immediate area and wider Borough.  Both the Council and Boston College had vested interests owing to existing land holdings, but also an established operational relationship between the two sites.

The full details of the project were set out in a Business Case, appended to the report, which, subject to any amendments, would be submitted to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) following approval by the Boston Town Deal Board and Cabinet.

The five case business case was based on the Towns Fund Delivery Partner Stage 2 template and comprised of the:

• Strategic Case;
• Economic Case;
• Financial Case;
• Commercial Case; and
• Management Case

The Business Case being approved by DLUHC was a gateway to the Council being able to draw down project funding awarded in the offer Heads of Terms from HM Government, following approval of the Town Investment Plans in March 2021.  The Leisure project had been allocated £2,425,092 of Towns Fund monies, pending full business case approval.

It was highlighted that the business case document was not a delivery plan, there would be further development of the business case and other project milestones before the Council committed to a building contract. Those future milestones would enable the Council to further review the overall development costs, in use revenue costs and operating model for example.

The proposals for the GMLC were set out in the report, which sought to raise aspiration, generate interest and provide a multifunctional space which could be accessible for a variety of users from all areas of the community.  The buildings themselves would provide a unique blend of improved leisure facilities and flexible areas which could be used to collaborate with other partners such as health and commercial providers. The summary of core improvements to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.