Leisure Facilities Replacements and Improvements in Skelmersdale, Ormskirk and Burscough

West Lancashire Borough Council has several leisure facilities across the Borough which are delivered through West Lancashire Community Leisure Trust and managed by Serco under a contract which is due to end on 31 March 2020. The Council and the West Lancashire Clinical Commissioning Group are exploring partnership opportunities to develop two co-located facilities in the towns of Skelmersdale and Ormskirk. The aim of the partnership will be to replace the two ageing 1970s swimming pools with purpose built Leisure & Wellbeing centres, resulting in leisure facilities operating alongside front line health services. The Council is also considering whether Beacon Park Golf Course should be aligned with the existing facilities contract or would be better positioned as a standalone contract. In May 2017 the Council commissioned FMG Consulting to undertake a financial viability and funding options appraisal for replacement swimming pool/leisure facilities in Skelmersdale and Ormskirk. The initial phase of this work is now complete and has concluded that the proposed facilities have the potential to be financially viable and operationally feasible.

West Lancashire Borough Council wishes to share its ambitions and plans for the Skelmersdale, Ormskirk and Burscough leisure facilities in a soft market testing exercise, with the following aims:

1. to allow interested organisations with appropriate experience to outline their views and provide information with no commitment to themselves or to the Council;
2. to allow the Council to confirm, or encourage critical assessment of, the viability of its plans and gain expert input to assist with reshaping its plans in order to make the most of the opportunities and options available;
3. to gauge the level of interest from the market in taking the project forward.

We emphasise that this is a soft market testing exercise, not a call for competition.

A questionnaire, together with full details of the project including a summary of the feasibility study, can be downloaded from The Chest portal at www.the-chest.org.uk

We welcome responses from appropriately experienced Leisure Facility Developers and Leisure Management operators. We do not require responses from other professional services (including construction services) at this stage. Please note that completed Questionnaires should be returned via The Chest portal by 12 noon on Tuesday 13 FEBRUARY 2018.

Additional information: Further details, including a project brief and questionnaire can be downloaded from The Chest portal at www.the-chest.org.uk Please return completed Questionnaires via The Chest by 12 noon on Tuesday 13 FEBRUARY 2018 (not April as stated in the initial advert).