I am writing to you under the Freedom of Information Act 200, to request information held by the Council related to its ownership or involvement in an out-of-town leisure park.
Definition
For the purposes of this request, an out-of-town leisure park (OOTLP) means a destination containing multiple leisure/hospitality uses, for example cinema, bowling, restaurants, gym/health club, trampoline park, soft play or comparable family leisure uses. It is not a council leisure centre which would contain wet-side and dry-side sports facilities.
Where a Council owns a stand-alone cinema without any other leisure/hospitality facilities around it please consider this an OOTLP for the purposes of this request and respond to questions 1 and 4 - 22.
Where a Council does not own an interest in an OOTLP only questions 1, 2 and 3 need to be completed.
Questions
Ownership and acquisition
1. Does the Council currently own the freehold or long leasehold interest in one or more OOTLP? If yes, please provide the name and postcode of each. If yes, please move to question 4.
If the Council does not own an interest in an OOTLP there are two more questions, numbers 2 and 3. If the Council does own an interest in an OOTLP then questions 4 to 22 will apply.
2. Where the Council does not own an OOTLP, is there an OOTLP in third-party ownership that your Council has considered or discussed as an agenda item in a public meeting for reasons of wider economic, social or community benefits? If yes, please provide a copy of the report or a URL to where it is publicly available?
3. Where the Council does not own an OOTLP, is there one in third-party ownership about which the Council has received complaints or queries because the public mistakenly believe the Council has a stake or has some control or influence over the OOTLP? If so, please provide the number of customer contacts.
Where the Council does own an interest in an OOTLP, please respond to the questions below:
4. For each OOTLP:
o did the Council develop it or acquire it as an existing development?
o in what year did the Council acquire/develop it?
5. What was the total acquisition or development price, excluding subsequent capital expenditure?
6. What was the Council's principal stated purpose for acquiring or developing the OOTLP, for example:
o investment/income generation;
o regeneration;
o leisure/community provision; or
o another purpose?
7. Please provide the committee/cabinet report or published business case supporting the acquisition, preferably by URL where publicly available.
Financial performance
8. For each of the five most recent completed financial years, please provide:
o gross rental and other income streams associated with the site; o operating/management expenditure;
9. If the Council calculates it, what annual return yield or other financial performance measure is used for the asset, and what was that measure in each of those five years?
Occupancy and commercial resilience
10. For each of the last five financial years, what was the occupancy rate, measured by number of lettable units, at the financial year end?
11. During the last five years, how many units have experienced a continuous void period exceeding 12 months?
12. How many units are currently vacant, and for how long has the currently longest unit been vacant?
13. Has the Council provided any rent-free periods, rent reductions, lease restructuring, stepped rents or other landlord concessions specifically to retain or attract occupiers during the last five years? If so, please provide the total value recorded by the Council. (My asking the question in this way ought to prevent data being withheld on grounds of commercial sensitivities as it will not be clear which tenant(s) were involved and the data is still useable for research purposes).
14. Over the last five years, how many units have changed from a leisure/hospitality use to another use, and what were the former and new uses?
Success and performance
15. What KPIs or measures does the Council use to assess the performance or success of the OOTLP?
16. Please provide the results against those KPIs for the five most-recent completed financial years or provide where that information is available online.
17. Which committee, Cabinet portfolio holder or officer body oversees the property’s performance?
18. Has the Council formally assessed whether the OOTLP has achieved the objectives stated when it was acquired or developed? If yes, please provide the most recent recorded assessment.
Future strategy
19. During the last five years, has the Council formally considered any of the following for the OOTLP:
• disposal;
• redevelopment;
• significant change of use;
• demolition;
• major refurbishment; or
• retention with significant new investment?
20. If yes, please provide the dates and titles of the relevant public reports or decisions.
21. Does the Council currently have an adopted asset management, investment or estate strategy which specifically refers to the OOTLP? If so, please provide a copy or URL to where it is publicly available.
22. Has the Council undertaken any formal assessment of the wider economic, regeneration, social or community benefits arising from its ownership of the OOTLP beyond financial investment performance? If a copy of this is publicly available, please provide the URL.