Heanor Leisure Centre celebrated the start of construction of the new leisure centre with an official Ground Breaking Ceremony, last Friday, which was attended by special guests Lynne Gregg-Boot and Brian Mee. Mrs Gregg-Boot and Mr Mee are the grandchildren of local war hero William Gregg, after whom the Leisure Centre will be named when it reopens in August 2007.
William Gregg was the first soldier to be awarded all three principal awards for gallantry – The Military Medal, The Distinguished Conduct Medal and the Victoria Cross.
DC Leisure will be responsible for operating three of Amber Valley’s leisure centres based in Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley in line with Council standards and guidance and is one of the first Pathfinder Leisure Private Finance Initiative (PFI) projects to come to fruition. The project will involve extensive redevelopment and refurbishment at all three leisure centres and the scheme - which has benefited from approximately £22 million in government credits - is due to be completed in spring 2008.
The leisure centres provide an invaluable service to many individuals and groups within the borough such as schools, PCT Health Referral programmes, people with disabilities and sports and social clubs.
The new state of the art facilities at all three sites mean that DC Leisure and the Council will continue to serve current customers, as well as developing new initiatives to increase participation in sport, improve levels of performance and promote the value of sport, improving quality of life throughout the borough.
The ceremony was also attended by the Mayor of Amber Valley, the Mayor of Heanor and Loscoe, members of the Council’s Leisure Centre Decision panel, Heanor Equal Leisure Plan group and Group Technical Director for DC Leisure, Peter Kirkham.
Note to Editors
Amber Valley Borough Council and DC Leisure Management Ltd are working in partnership to provide leisure centre services in Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley. In April 2006 Amber Valley Borough Council entered into a Private Finance Initiative (PFI) agreement with DC Leisure Management Ltd. Under the agreement, DC Leisure Management Ltd will transform the Council's leisure centres in Alfreton, Heanor and Ripley and manage them for up to 32 years. The project has attracted more than £15 million pounds worth of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits from Central Government. A PFI Initiative involves a public sector organisation entering into a partnership with a private sector organisation to deliver a service to higher standards and with greater investment than either could deliver individually. These partnerships are made possible through financial support from Central Government.
