Issue - meetings

The Chief Executive introduced the report and advised that the development phase of the centre was now complete and now that it was a service, it would continue to be monitored in the usual way in the future together with other services.  The service was still being developed and there was a business plan in place.  Unforeseen circumstances which had arisen during the redevelopment were listed in the report as was the budget position.  SSDC had loaned money to the project and the overspend would be added to the loan to be repaid.

In response to questions from Members and the Scrutiny Committee, the Chief Executive and Chairman advised:-

·         The artists walkways was not yet complete but it was in the business plan. 

·         All outstanding negotiations with the contractors were now complete and the figures in the report were the final cost of the project.

·         A further report on the business plan, overheads and income would be presented in December 2017 or January 2018 taking in to account the first six months trading.

·         This was a new business that would take time to develop and was expected to be a fully functioning business within 3 to 5 years.

·         The detailed project costs breakdown would be reported to the project board but the figures could also be made available to the Scrutiny Committee

·         The sporting facilities were now complete.

·         The situation of the bingo license for the venue would be checked.

·         SSDC had loaned £2m to the project and the remaining funding had come from S106 contributions, Sport England, Badminton England, Somerset Cricket Board and other partner organisations.  A further breakdown would be provided to Members.

At the conclusion of the debate, Members were content to note the contents of the update report on the Westlands Entertainment & Conference Centre.