Weymouth College made £750,000 exit payment after pulling out of running Redlands
It's thought to be the first time the figure has been revealed
Weymouth College agreed to £750,000 in “exit payments” when it walked away from managing the Redlands Sports Centre at Weymouth.
The payments included £500,000 for a series of works which would need to be completed to the buildings and £250,000 in a fund earmarked towards the cost of a new outdoor 3G pitch, which has yet to be implemented.
It is believed that this is the first time the figures have been revealed in public . They were given, in response to a councillor question, at a meeting of the Dorset Council policy and resources scrutiny committee which was reviewing progress of the centre under the new regime.
The College stopped running the centre 16 months ago after estimating that it was losing at least £200,000 a year – with its management now in the hands of Active Dorset supported by a £35,000 a year payment from Weymouth Town Council and ongoing officer support from Dorset Council.
Latest figures suggest that the new arrangement have been a success and the losses have been reduced to around £100,000 a year with the prospect of breaking even within a year or two.
Dorset Council portfolio holder Cllr Laura Beddow said there had been scepticism about how the new operating model would work and that it still might end in closure under the new arrangements.
“The real thanks have got to go from the people who got involved and have supported this… their willingness to be open minded and come forward and work with the council, our partners and Active Dorset and create something for themselves is really, really good news – this is a good model which could be used elsewhere.”
Weymouth councillor Brian Heatley, who uses the centre, said he was thankful that what looked like a grim situation a year or two ago had been turned into a success.
Active Dorset is working on the basis that within eight years the centre will be in profit.