I hope many of you are already aware of the imminent reopening - of Sevenoaks Leisure Centre and Lullingstone Golf Course, this is a very welcome development and one that I know our whole community has been hoping for after the last few difficult weeks.
I am so pleased that Everyone Active will now be operating both the sites, with the golf course reopening this Saturday (22nd April). This is just the kind of speedy response that was needed after the liquidation of Sencio, and I remain hopeful that a date for the reopening of the Sevenoaks Leisure Centre will follow as soon as possible. I know that the council and Everyone Active are working through the necessary maintenance, deep cleaning, recruitment, and training of staff as quickly as they can.
A huge thank you to Cllr Peter Fleming and the team at Sevenoaks District Council for all their hard work. I know how vital it is we get things up and running as quickly as possible, and I am so grateful that they have – and continue to - work every hour to make that happen.
For those of you unaware, Everyone Active currently runs the White Oak Leisure Centre in Swanley and they have an excellent track record of innovation and amazing customer service. They have made the Swanley leisure centre accessible and attractive to new customers of all ages and backgrounds and bought in hundreds of thousands of customers through the doors in the first year. With their new ideas and experience of running more than 200 leisure facilities nationwide, I feel optimistic about the future of both sites.
As I have mentioned in previous columns, my focus since the announcement from Sencio has been on sourcing alternative locations for the clubs and team who used the leisure facilities and supporting the former Sensio staff. I am pleased that throughout this week Everyone Active have been holding recruitment open days but if you know someone who previously worked at the sites and wishes to continue their work under the new management, please do encourage them to visit my Facebook where there is a link to a simple online form to register their interest.
There are of course still many unanswered questions. Over the last few years Sencio received nearly £1.4m of public money, including £411,000 from Sevenoaks District Council to help them through lockdown and with business recovery. Additionally, Sevenoaks District Council invested annually in maintenance, latterly around £190,000 per annum alongside an annual management fee. We must understand how, despite this support, the leisure centre has found itself in this position so that a similar situation never happens again.
But, in the meantime, please do book your return visit to Lullingstone Golf Course (by visiting this new Facebook page @eaLullingstoneGolf) and make sure you are following my Facebook @LauraTrottMP for the latest updated regarding the Leisure Centre.
