Director appointed for new leisure company

Members of the public have been asked to help run Denbighshire’s leisure centres including Rhyl’s SC2 waterpark.
An Alternative Delivery Model (ADM) is being set up as  a not for profit company to run the facilities.
Today’s meeting of Denbighshire Council in Ruthin approved the appointment of Cllr Pete Prendergast to the board of the new company.
Cllr Bobby Feeley, the cabinet member responsible for well-being, said: “These appointments are a necessary step to ensuring strong governance structures for the company.”
They also set up a recruitment panel to find two independent directors to serve on the board.
The council’s legal chief, Gary Williams, said: “We will be looking for people who hopefully have some experience in the leisure sector who would be able to provide some different perspective.  I am afraid I have seen some things on social media which are outlandish about remuneration. Effectively the independent remuneration panel for Wales sets the amount that we pay people who are co-opted and every year they set a daily rate for meetings that they attend, they don’t won’t get paid if they won’t attend.”
We have an established process where the roles will be publicly advertised and will interview people who want to become members of the standards committee.
The new company follows on from a similar enterprise, Clwyd Leisure, that collapsed after the council withdrew funding for the three centres it ran including the old Rhyl Sun Centre five years ago.
But the council said this model will be different with more control for the authority over the company to ensure similar problems do not arise again.
The council expects the new enterprise will save it £800,000 in its first year.
The facilities proposed to be included are the county’s seven leisure centres as well as the Prestatyn Nova, SC2, Rhyl Pavilion Theatre, Rhyl Events Arena and events function, North Wales Bowls Centre, Rhyl Town Hall, Ruthin Craft Centre, Llangollen Pavilion, 1891, Café R (Ruthin) and Strategic Leisure.

By Shane Brennan – Local Democracy Reporter