Bevan Brittan advised Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council (RMBC) on a £35 million design, build, finance, and operate leisure project to reach financial close on 7 June.

The project replaces the borough’s existing pools and leisure centres with four strategically placed new facilities in South Yorkshire:

·                central Rotherham pool in St Ann's

·                Joint Service Centre including a pool and leisure complex in Maltby

·                dual-use leisure facilities in Wath

·                dual-use leisure facilities in Aston.

In addition to the Maltby pool and leisure complex, the Joint Service Centre will provide office accommodation for RMBC staff, GP practice accommodation for Rotherham Primary Care Trust (PCT) and a new pharmacy.

Projects Partner at Bevan Brittan, Penny Rinta-Suksi, said: “We are extremely pleased to have been involved in this significant project for Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council which was a landmark deal for leisure PFI in this country.

“Working in partnership with the in-house legal team, we supported them on some highly challenging and innovative aspects, including fine-tuning their relationship with Rotherham PCT, dovetailing their leisure provision in to existing education arrangements and structuring the complex finance and multiple funding sources involved.

“The result is an excellent example of a Council working together with a significant health care provider and other public sector stakeholders to ensure joined-up ‘one-stop-shop’ service delivery to its residents. I hope this scheme is seen as inspirational for other local authorities looking at leisure-lead regeneration.”

Funding for the project came from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Department for Communities and Local Government through two linked Private Finance Initiative (PFI) schemes, after the Government allocated Rotherham £25m of PFI Credits for redevelopment and regeneration. Additional funding has been gained from the national Lottery through the New Opportunities Fund, Rotherham PCT and from RMBC’s existing budgets.

Barclays Bank funded the project, Willmott Dixon will construct the facilities and DC Leisure will operate the leisure services on behalf of RMBC during the contract. The new facilities are due for completion in 2009, and the concession will run for 32 years.