New £8m Warsop Health Hub awaiting confirmation on Sport England funding

The new building, at Carr Lane Park, is one of several different projects planned through the council’s £12.3m Towns Fund cash, alongside new ‘Destination Mansfield’ branding and a business ‘gateway’ near Mansfield Woodhouse Railway Station.

The authority has regularly insisted the new leisure hub is not a replacement for the now-closed Meden Sports Centre.

But, once complete, it will feature a 15metres by 8m swimming pool, changing facilities, a café, a viewing area and reception, a fitness suite, a multi-use hall and a games area.

It is expected to cost at least £7.9m, with £3m allocated from the Towns Fund pot, while the authority has also bid for between £1m and £1.5m from Sport England and up to £3.5m has been approved in borrowing.

However, the full cost to the council is yet to be revealed as it awaits confirmation of how much cash Sport England could provide.

A delegated decision allowed for a maximum of £3.5m to be borrowed to fund any shortfalls in the budget – but this will depend on the level of cash provided by the Government-supported sports body.

And this decision has not yet been made, leading to concern from councillors in the council’s latest corporate resources scrutiny meeting that council budgets could be burdened.

Coun Stuart Wallace, who represents Carr Bank, said: “If the pot the council is trying to receive decreases then it’s going to affect our budget.

“We’re talking about the pounds here and there and it’s going to affect how we plan.”

The meeting was told no “assumptions” have been made about how much money the authority will receive, with budgets to be adjusted by the end of the year, when an announcement is expected.

Dawn Edwards, council head of finance, said: “We’ve not made any assumptions on the Warsop Health Hub in the budget, that still needs to be overlayed onto the budget.

“This is only what we’re planning to receive. We know we’re getting the Towns Fund money, but we still haven’t had a decision from Sports England on what we will receive.”

Concerns over rising energy costs and potential increases in construction fees have led to fears the new health hub could become a “white elephant” for the authority.

Coun David Smith, member for Woodlands, said: “The thing with costs is, with energy and gas prices going up, councils need to know a rough guide.

“A lot of councils are closing pools down because of the cost of heating them. We don’t want to end up with a white elephant, so we need all the figures.

“Building costs are still going up and we need to get an idea of what it’s going to cost.

“We need to factor in an increase in building material costs and allow for that as well.”

However, Ms Edwards said any increased costs for the health hub – including maintenance and running fees – would not have an impact on next year’s budget, but on future years’ budgets once the hub has been built.