“Members are being asked tonight to delegate to officers the spending of 40 per cent of the council’s strategic CIL money to the Ely Leisure Centre, along with 25 per cent to Littleport schools and 25 per cent to the Ely bypass, leaving only 10 per cent to  be allocated by councillors.

We in our group cannot support this until the council has clarified how it proposes to fund the leisure centre as a whole. The seminar which councillors were supposed to attend last month on the funding strategy for the leisure centre has been postponed until further notice. Indeed, it will not take place until after tenders have been issued.

Every indication at the moment appears to be that the building of the new leisure centre is likely to disappoint many of its intended users. It seems likely that there will be insufficient funds to install enough spectator seating to satisfy the clubs, or a splash pool to benefit families with young children.

It seems premature to delegate the allocation of half the strategic CIL money to officers before members have been told what is being built or what the funding strategy will be, and before Full Council has had the opportunity to discuss it.”