The brief

Oswestry Borough Council is situated in the North West of Shropshire on the border with Wales, and is one of the smallest districts in the country. The Community and Operational Services Directorate (of Oswestry Borough Council) developed an initiative to improve the health and wellbeing of the people who live in the borough; Oswald Park Active Lifestyle Centre is the key project through which they planned to achieve this.

The Council recognised that the existing Oswestry Leisure Centre was coming to the end of its useful life; the proposed development of the Oswald Park Active Lifestyle Centre would provide alternative sport and leisure facilities, integrated with health facilities, for the benefit of the local community.

The centre would provide additional facilities, particularly targeted at encouraging young people to participate in sport and recreation, by enabling the borough to increase the range of activities available, therefore broadening the opportunities for the local population to take part in sport and physical and cultural activities.

Our Approach

Strategic Leisure was appointed by Owestry Borough Council to develop a Business Plan for Oswald Park Active Lifestyle Centre. The study included two stages:
1) Review of current proposals and business plans for Oswald Park Active Lifestyle Centre
2) Preparation of a new revised business plan/strategy for viable delivery and a sustainable future for the active lifestyle project.

Strategic Leisure undertook a supply and demand analysis of existing provision, to 'test' the proposed facility mix for the new centre. In addition, the rationale for the facility was reviewed, to provide an opportunity to challenge the proposals, to ensure the Council would realise a sustainable facility, meeting the needs of local people.

Project outcomes

The business plan produced by Strategic Leisure was developed by reviewing the National, Regional and Local context for sport, critically appraising the facility proposal, and developing five year indicative revenue estimates for the proposed facility mix. The business plan assumptions also included an options analysis of the various available structures for the operational management of the facility.