Leisure Centre Community Conversation

Overview

Following the closure of the Chafford Sports Complex in June 2019, Havering Council has been working to find a new site for a brand new leisure centre in the south of the borough.

The new leisure centre, which will have dance and spinning studios, 72-station fitness suite and six-lane swimming pool, will be a modular design, meaning it can be built quickly. Council officers have looked at a similar building – Becontree Heath Leisure Centre extension in Dagenham – when developing proposals.

Havering Council has identified two sites which could feasibly host the new centre – a site on the Havering College grounds off New Road and a site to partly occupy a recreation ground next to the Council’s Viking Way car park – Rainham Recreation Ground.

The Council’s preferred site is the Rainham Recreation Ground as the leisure centre can be built quicker and more economically there. Whereas the Havering College site will not come up for potential purchase until 2021, the recreation ground site could be fully developed as a leisure centre and in use by then.

This survey seeks residents' views on which site they favour.

Why your views matter

We are asking residents what they think because both of the sites which are feasible have advantages and disadvantages. These are:

New Road site

Advantages:

• Central location to existing housing within Rainham as well as the new Beam Park development
• Ability to potentially share car parking spaces and increase usage, particularly daytime usage, of the new sports centre with a neighbouring facility
• Residents able to access the sports centre during daytime hours
• Minor groundworks required
• The site is currently disused and is hard standing
• Good transport connections

Disadvantages/risks:

• Land owner has indicated that the area of land at the front of the site is the area likely to be available. This involves a smaller area of land resulting in a smaller footprint for a new leisure centre. This could have a negative impact on the customer experience when using the facility.
• Land owner has indicated that the earliest that the site could be available would be 2021 resulting in a delay to building and opening a new leisure centre - 2022.
• Land not owned by Council so will involve purchasing the land at significant additional cost
• Location on the site adjacent to main gas pipes, so present a higher risk in terms of planning permission

Rainham Recreation Ground

Advantages:

• Central Rainham location
• Land owned by the Council so no land purchase involved
• Existing car park that could serve the new sports centre
• Residents able to access the sports centre during daytime hours
• Good transport connections
• Close to shops and facilities

Disadvantages/risks:

• Loss of open space would be contrary to current planning policy unless it can be shown that loss can be replaced elsewhere and there is sufficient public open space in the area – although Council would aim to replace lost open space
• The existing play site would be moved and relocated elsewhere on the wider recreation ground site. 
• Close to (but outside of) conservation area

The facility mix for a new leisure centre is the same at both sites. The new leisure centre would include:

• 25 metre 6 lane swimming pool
• 72 station gym
• Dance studio
• Spinning studio
• Changing village
• Pool viewing room

What happens next

Havering Council will consider the responses given to this survey before deciding on a site.