North Northamptonshire Council approves plans for 10-year agreement to ensure Kettering Leisure Village’s sporting facilities remain in community use

Facilities including the arena sports hall, studio, sports lounge and café, the national volleyball centre and meeting rooms are currently run by Phoenix Leisure Management (PLM) in partnership with NNC.

The council says the new decade-long agreement with PLM will ensure KLV remains fit for purpose and includes an ongoing capital investment plan for the facilities so they continue to thrive for future generations.

NNC’s executive panel were told at a meeting yesterday (Tuesday, October 14) that a break clause in the management agreement allowed them to review and refresh the contract to ensure the ‘best provision’ for residents.

Cllr Brian Benneyworth, executive member for health and leisure, said: “I’m extremely pleased to support this proposal for the ongoing management of the arena sports contract of our much-loved and valued Kettering Leisure Village.

“This secures community access to high-quality sports facilities for the next decade and protects it for future generations.”

Since September 2023, PLM has operated the Leisure Village directly.

Local residents were in uproar when its former sub-contractor Compass Leisure announced they were pulling out and threatened the sports facilities’ closure for good.

Cllr Steve Geary (Greens, St Peter), said he welcomed the additional stability that the 10-year agreement would bring for residents, but asked for ‘concrete proposals’ for the site so everyone can be confident that the facility is being managed ‘in the best possible way’.

North Northants resident and former Labour councillor Lyn Buckingham also asked for NNC to have a ‘clear contingency plan’ if Phoenix Leisure fails to avoid the chaos and uncertainty around the future of KLV that was seen in 2023.

According to the new agreement, Phoenix Leisure must become a proactive partner to support NNC’s Active Communities Strategy, deliver services to support public health more widely, and ensure the facilities are fully accessible to the community between 9am and 10pm weekdays and between 9am and 5pm at the weekend.

Council officers will also undertake quarterly monitoring meetings with PLM to review performance against agreed indicators and conduct regular site inspections.

‘The beating heart of our community’

Illustrating how much the sporting facility means to residents, Kettering local Martin Shepherd told councillors that KLV was ‘the beating heart of our community’.

He said: “It’s where young people find purpose, older residents find connection and families come together in ways that build healthier and stronger communities.

“Like many parents, I spent hours watching my children in sporting endeavours and many many hours in the theatre doing the same.

"We all know the pressures that residents face in the rising cost of living, health inequalities and decline in social spaces. Facilities like Kettering Leisure Village help us tackle all of these at once.

“I urge the executive to see this not merely as a contract renewal, but as a commitment to the people of Kettering. Let’s ensure KLV continues to serve, inspire and unite our residents for the next generation, just as it has for the last three decades.”

Part of the agreement secures continued investment in the facilities from Phoenix Leisure, including a requirement to carry out works to refresh the paintwork of the venue, upgrade squash courts and the sports arena, and look to update floor markings to incorporate new sporting opportunities such as pickleball.

Director of public health for North Northants, Jane Bethea, added: “It’s the beginning of what we can do within this really positive partnership. We’re really committed to the arrangement and we have a really positive relationship with Phoenix Leisure.

“We will make sure that we have really clear deliverables going forward. We do also want to make sure that that site looks really appealing, has got all the right facilities there and that’s part of the capital programme.”

The council provides an annual grant to support the sports facilities, paying out £371,982 in 2024/25. Annual inflation of the contract has now been capped at a maximum of five per cent to ensure it remains affordable going forward.

It is estimated that the total cost to the council over 10 years, if the grant increased by the maximum amount each year, would be £5.1m. These costs will be met from the leisure service revenue budget.

The new agreement will next be up for review after a period of 10 years, in 2035.