East Sussex County Council is expected to agree to giving Rye Town Council a twenty-year lease to the sports centre on Friday November 1.
Cllr Nick Bennett, ESCC’s lead member for resources and climate change, is set to make the decision which would see the transfer the management of Rye Sports Centre to a new operator: Rye Health and Well-Being Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO).
High energy costs forced the temporary closure of the sports centre’s swimming pool in November 2022. In response a group of Rye residents, with the support of Rye Town Council, formed a not-for-profit enterprise intended to take over management of the sports centre and to safeguard the pool’s future. While the swimming pool has since reopened, the enterprise is now in a position to take on the sports centre from Rother District Council.
To facilitate this, Cllr Bennett is being asked to agree for the council (which owns the sports centre’s freehold) to enter into a 20-year lease with Rye Town Council. The town council then intends to sublease the leisure centre to the CIO.
This new lease would be expected to come into effect in April next year, subject to Rother District Council agreeing to terminate its existing lease and contractual agreements with Freedom Leisure (the sports centre’s current operator).
Meanwhile on Wednesday, October 30 an extra Rye Town Council meeting was called to approve one of the final financial elements of the leisure centre recovery plan.
Councillors reflected on the complexity of this major project, led by Barry Nealon but with the enthusiastic support of many volunteers, along with East Sussex, Rother and Rye councillors and staff.
The council unanimously approved the mechanism by which RTC will manage a photovoltaic panel grant of £140k from Sport England.
Image Credits: Nick Forman .