Skiing and BMX track to be considered by district planners
New leisure and entertainment facilities could be on their way to Selby after a planning application was lodged with district planners.
Selby
Bowling lanes, skiing and an aerial assault course are amongst the facilities planned for the site adjacent to the new Selby Leisure Centre, should the bid be successful.
The application was submitted by entertainments company Alliance Leisure as they compete to persuade the Council that they should be the firm to take on the remainder on the former Abbey Leisure site. Selby District Council has agreed to pick up the tab for the cost of the application, effectively meaning it has paid itself £12,705.
The bid comes after Council chiefs invited leisure operators to come forward with new ideas to for the site in order to supplement the range of activities available once their new, smaller leisure centre opens its doors in January.
Whilst this is the latest in a string of ideas muted for the site since the demise of the old Abbey Leisure Centre, it is the only one that has got as far as an official planning application. Other ideas put forward by district politicians over the years have included an ice rink and a cinema.
A spokesperson for the Council told Selby Online, “Earlier this year the Council invited proposals for development of the land adjacent to the new Selby Leisure Centre as part of a competitive dialogue process which seeks to identify the most suitable options for the site. The Council was seeking uses which were compatible with and complementary to the neighbouring Leisure Centre.
“As part of the process applicants were required to obtain planning permission for their plans in advance of the Council deciding whether or not to proceed with their proposals. The application for planning permission has been made by the applicants as part of a competitive dialogue procurement process. If the planning application is successful it gives the Council confidence that they can demonstrate that they have the necessary planning consents to go ahead with their plans if the Council decide that their proposals meet some or all of our objectives for the site. That decision will be made by Councillors early in the New Year. The Council’s ambitions and objectives for the site were set out in the invitation to competitive dialogue that we issued some months ago. That is a public document and the information in there is already in the public domain. Because the Council required the applicants to submit a planning application as part of the competitive dialogue process we agreed to meet the planning fee.”
The planning application is expected to go before planning committee members in January 2015.