A presentation will be provided at the meeting.

Chris Parsloe provided the panel with a verbal update on current plans for the development of Morden Leisure Centre.  It was highlighted that this is a work in progress and subject to change.

External:

·         The centre will be located off the A24, further into the park, away from the mature habitat and closer to the College and existing car park;

·         Positioning has be carefully considered in relation to the view form Morden Park House, to avoid noise from the A24 and to protect the swimming pool and swimmers from the sun;

·         The external design is sympathetic to the park land; and

·         The café and toilets have been position at the front of the building allowing easy access to all those using the park and not only those using the centre.  There is outside shade available encouraging family use.

Internal (downstairs):

·         The first stage of development excludes the sports hall.  The designs allow for this to be added later.  Whilst the initial build will be paid for from council funds, the sports hall requires external fundraising which is on-going;

·         The swimming configuration accommodates all needs; there is a 25m, six lane pool and a smaller pool that has a movable floor allowing for a variable depth to support all activities from paddling for toddlers to diving;

·         There is vanity screening between the pools allowing for events in the smaller pool not to be over-looked. (Blinds shielding swimmers from upstairs spectators, controlled by staff, also allow privacy for swimmers where required.);

·         The  village changing rooms approach is not considered suitable for Merton’s community.  There will be separate men’s, women’s and group areas (where dads can change with younger daughters etc); and

·         The sports hall will be the size of four badminton courts and contain appropriate levels of storage space for the amounts of sports equipment needed. 

Disabled users: there is disabled access throughout the centre.

Internal (Upstairs): there is a 100 station fitness suite that has been positioned to overlook the London skyline, some seating allowing sight of the pool, a flexible studio/ community space for activities such as yoga or Zumba, and, once the sports hall is built, there will be a mezzanine level over the storage in the sports hall creating  a spinning studio.

In response to member questions, Chris Parsloe provided further clarification:

·         The operator, Greenwich Leisure, will provide a shop for the sale of small sports goods on site, such as swim hats, goggles, etc;

·         Plans for the leisure centre are targeted to go to the planning committee on 19 May 2016, work will then start on site in September/October 2016 with the planned opening in January 2018;

·         Morden Park Pools will be decommissioned thereafter, demolished and the area landscaped;

·         Expert advice from those that develop swimming facilities for Sport England has been taken on the development of the new leisure centre.  The key requirement is to make this family friendly but also to consider on-going running costs and not just capital spend;

·         The centre is focused on allowing family usage as opposed to being a spectator venue.  There is some viewing space available but this is not extensive;

·         Work is on-going to develop an accompanying pavilion for outside sports with Morden Park Playing Fields Community Trust;

·         Full consideration is being given to transport to and from the centre.  This is currently being modelled by transport planning consultants in consultation with our highways team and TfL; and

·         The pools will be fully accessible and include a pool pod to provide the best possible access/experience for disabled users to enter the pools.

RESOLVED: to thank Chris Parsloe and the rest of the Leisure and Culture team for their work and to invite Chris back to the next meeting (16 March 2016) for a progress update.