We are renewing our operational contracts for Edenbridge and Sevenoaks Leisure Centres and Lullingstone Park Golf Course as part of our long-term commitment to leisure.
The three leisure facilities are currently run by Everyone Active under a short-term lease after Sencio Community Leisure suddenly went out of business in 2023. However, this short term arrangement has to end by 31 May 2025.
The Council put out a tender on 20 May 2024 for the operation of the three facilities. The contract will be for five years from 2025 with the option to extend the contract for a further two years. This contract period would allow the Council to consider how best to provide future leisure in Edenbridge and Sevenoaks. Both centres were built in the 1980s and 1990s and by today’s standards are expensive to run with poor energy efficiency. The Council is considering building a new leisure centre in Sevenoaks as part of its regeneration plans for the Buckhurst Lane area of Sevenoaks.
It is also looking at how to improve leisure provision in Edenbridge. A leisure facilities survey from early this year will be reported to Councillors in June this year. The condition of both centres would impact any future leisure contracts as newer, modern centres generally have low running costs.
The contract includes additional measures following learning from the last contract with Sencio that was drawn up more than 20 years ago. These include reflecting the current good practice undertaken for the White Oak Leisure Centre and interim contracts, including maintaining a risk register relating to the leisure centre contract and more regular reporting to Council. View the audit report into the management of the Sencio contract.
The Council will consider the tenders in September 2024 with the new contract beginning from 1 May 2025.
White Oak Leisure Centre is not affected as Everyone Active has a long-term lease and contract to run the facility until 2037.
If you have further questions, please view our questions and answers.