New leisure centre cost nears twice original budget

A new leisure centre in Surrey will cost almost double its original budget after another £4.8m was added to the tab, new figures show.

The increased costs come a week after it was confirmed Cranleigh Leisure Centre's opening would be delayed until at least winter 2027, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The budget increase to £36m is mainly due, Waverley Borough Council (WBC) said, to "external factors" beyond its control, such as rising costs for building materials and services.

Conservative councillor Peter Martin said: "Some of the huge cost increases now emerging appear to suggest that leadership simply did not properly account for all essential costs in 2023."

In December 2021, WBC approved £19.95m to build a low-carbon facility.

That increased to £31.14m in 2023 when the council decided to build it to the highest level in energy efficiency, known as the Passivhaus standard.

Now the budget has increased by a further £4.8m to £36m, with the council citing "external factors" beyond its control in papers published ahead of the December overview and scrutiny committee.

The increase has also pushed the payback period on the project to 50 years, which Martin said was "significantly worse" than the "already astonishing" 47 years.

WBC does expect the centre to be profitable within its second year, unlike the previous loss-making site, however.

Councillor Kevin Deanus said: "The press release issued last week by Waverley Borough Council referred only to the appointment of a new contractor and made no reference whatsoever to the massive £4.8m cost increase.

"Residents are not fools, they expect and demand proper value for money."

The council said the press release had been to update residents on the progress of the project and introduce its appointed preferred bidder and had been issued before the financial figures had been confirmed.

The authority said the cost was consistent with other new leisure centre projects.

A spokesperson added: "It's not unusual to have a payback period based on the life expectancy of a building, and in purely financial terms this is achieved with the new Cranleigh Leisure Centre.

"What this payback does not include, is the social value that a new facility will produce for the area and the benefits to wider agendas such as health and wellbeing."

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