Residents welcome council’s plan to reveal its finances over costly leisure centre near Worksop

Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council’s clerk shared some details of the a report concerning its finances and the Creswell Heritage and Wellbeing Centre – which has been reportedly running at a growing loss with money owed to the Public Loans Board and Bolsover District Council – during a recent parish meeting with the Creswell and Elmton Residents’ Action Group.

The action group has been frustrated by what it has previously described as the council’s limited response to a Freedom of Information request and its decision to exclude the public from a confidential meeting on December 12 where councillors considered an independent consultant’s report into its finances and governance with findings and areas needing attention.

CERAG chairperson, Christine Hope, said:”We had a very well attended parish meeting on the December 19. The clerk attended as did the Locum Consultant commissioned by Derbyshire Association of Local Councils.

“Together they presented the report on the financial situation of the parish council at the Extraordinary Meeting held on December 12.

“Whilst we were not given precise details of the report content during our meeting on December 19, we were assured that the report will be made available to residents early in January, 2025.

“We were also able to ask a series of probing questions about the circumstances that triggered the involvement of the consultant. We found their joint input at the meeting very helpful indeed.”

Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council has reportedly been running the centre scheme at a growing loss after it borrowed £2m from the Public Loans Board to complete the project and Bolsover District Council’s company Dragonfly had to finish the development.

The on-going cost of the centre, on Colliery Road, has led to wide public concern after it originally opened in April, 2023, during a difficult economic climate which led to the council increasing its council tax precept for the 2024/25 financial year by a massive 93.2per cent to help with the centre’s running, equipment costs, wages and bills.

Ms Hope added: “Things like a big precept increase have to be discussed with residents before decisions are taken because it affects residents lives and that was never done.

“Nothing was done to alert residents in as much detail as possible that this was about to happen.”

Ms Hope said residents are concerned about the viability of the parish’s finances and the action group wants a full and financial audit of the council’s finances going back some time to get a clear picture.

She added: “We have a double-edge situation with all the concerns about the liability and financial position of the Heritage and Wellbeing Centre and the cost of it with the borrowing taken out in our name and the interest payments to the board and Bolsover District Council and the viability to sustain these payments over 49 years. So we are talking about a multi-generational debt.”

Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council has been addressing how best to deal with the financial strain and it recently set up a Trustee Board to oversee the centre but the action group wants to know exactly what the arrangements are going to be between the Trustee Board, the parish council and Bolsover District Council.

Ms Hope says it is a ‘frustrating situation’ that has been going on ever since the site’s former swimming baths were closed and the £3m leisure centre project was originally launched and she argued that parish councils should not incur this scale of debt given its more modest responsibilities by comparison with county, borough and district councils.

Creswell Heritage and Wellbeing Centre, has been reportedly running at a growing loss with money owed to the Public Loans Board and Bolsover District Council, according to the parish council and the residents’ group, after a difficult economic climate affected by the pandemic, rising costs and the original developer falling into administration before Dragonfly stepped in.

The centre project was originally funded through a number of organisations including Bolsover District Council and Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council before it finally opened after long delays.

Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council has stated it recognises the importance of ensuring public confidence especially during challenging times and the confidential Extraordinary Meeting had marked an important step in efforts to uphold its commitment to accountability, transparency, and good governance.

It added that the report will be made available to the public once it has been thoroughly reviewed and any necessary actions have been identified.

Parish council chairperson, Coun Amanda Davis, has said the sensitive nature of the report required private discussion but ‘transparency is at the heart of everything we do’ and the report will be shared in due course and the council is fully committed to ensuring the community remains informed and involved.

The council has stated it will be arranging a public meeting in the near future to share key aspects of the report, to outline the proposed action plan, and to provide an opportunity for residents to ask questions and share views.

Ms Hope said: “We will be continuing our active dialogue with the parish clerk and the Locum Consultant during January, 2025, and beyond.”

The original £3m project for the Creswell centre, near Worksop, was funded through Bolsover District Council, Elmton-with-Creswell Parish Council, Derbyshire County Council, Viridor, and the Big Local and Bolsover Partnership.