FUNDING
Moberly Leisure Centre: The result of an
innovative land deal
PUBLIC-PRIVATE COLLABORATION
Client: Moberly Leisure Centre, UK Supplier: Willmott Dixon
A groundbreaking scheme that demonstrates how the private sector can collaborate with the public sector to design and fund community facilities, Moberly Leisure Centre in London’s Queen’s Park is currently awaiting full planning approval, with completion expected in spring 2016. This new £17m, multi-use leisure
facility is being made possible thanks to an innovative land deal between Westminster City Council and Willmott Dixon’s development division, Regen. Given a gross development value of £60m, the deal will see sales receipts from 120 new homes – built by Regen on Kilburn Lane and Caird Street – being allocated towards the funding of a new leisure centre. Brian Brady, managing director for
residential at Willmott Dixon Regen, explains more: “Local authorities are increasingly looking at ways of using their assets to facilitate new public amenities,
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such as leisure centres, in joint ventures with private sector companies that have an interest in the residential redevelopment of that land. As public funds diminish, these partnerships help deliver high quality public facilities – directly benefiting local communities and representing good value for taxpayers – through the sale of new homes.” Under the current planning proposal,
the ageing Jubilee (Caird Street) and Moberly (Kilburn Lane) Sports Centres, which are less than a mile apart, will be demolished and replaced with a new, consolidated leisure centre at the Moberly site, measuring more than the two existing facilities combined. The £17m project will accommodate a 25-metre swimming pool, teaching pool, sports hall, health and fitness suite, exercise studios, health spa, boxing hall and a gym. Moberly will be the location of 80 of the new homes developed by Regen, with the remaining 40 positioned on the Jubilee site on Caird Street. In response to public consultation,
however, a smaller facility at Jubilee will be introduced as a replacement to the existing sports centre. “While the two locations are within easy walking distance, feedback from local people indicated that the existing Jubilee Sports Centre is an important hub
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for the community,” says Brady. “The new, smaller facility aims to retain this community aspect, providing flexible space. The proposed three-court hall will be able to accommodate different sports and exercises classes, and we’ve planned for changing facilities and a meeting area too.” Regen, which believes elements of
its funding model are unique, will work both as a developer and contractor on this project. Westminster City Council will benefit from the sales value generated when the housing is sold, land receipts, and two new leisure sites. “Few councils are in the position of
being able to build multi-million pound sports facilities in the current climate,” observes Westminster councillor Steve Summers. “But together with Willmott Dixon, the creation of a £17m centre for residents of Queen’s Park will be done at no cost to the taxpayer, representing incredible value for money.” And for Regen, this type of land
arrangement between the private and public sectors has the capability of being applied to a range of similar schemes, in which ageing community assets undergo much-needed modernisation or replacement thanks to a creative solution that unlocks value and generates funds.●
July 2013 © Cybertrek 2013
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