A LOCAL college plans to stop running a Weymouth leisure centre and is now seeking new tenants to take over its management.

Weymouth College has been operating Redlands Community Sports Hub under a lease arrangement with Dorset Council since 2008 and plans are now underway to engage with interested parties to confirm a new tenant.

Redlands Community Sports Hub hosts many indoor and outdoor sports, local clubs and community groups.

When the college first took over it planned to move a lot of the further education provision from the college over to Redlands. However, a lot of the developments which were originally planned for the centre were not able to be carried out following the 2008 financial crash and all further education has remained at the Weymouth College site at Cranford Avenue.

Director of finance at Weymouth College, Rob Cole, said that the leisure centre is not the main business focus of the college, which is further education.

He said: "We're now in a position where we are trying to exit the management role at Redlands and seeking a new tenant to take on the indoor and outdoor leisure centre.

"Weymouth College and Dorset Council are looking to carry out some due diligence to make sure that we get the right tenant in to take the centre forward.

"Whilst we supported the community with that leisure centre for a number of years, we feel that now's the right time to exit."

He said he was very confident that the college would be able to find a new tenant to run the centre by September when its lease with Dorset Council is due to expire.

Mr Cole said around 30 people are currently employed by the college to work at the centre and that some would could continue to be employed with the college.

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Nigel Evans, chief executive at Weymouth College said: "The college has been proud to serve the local sporting community for over 13 years and it is now time to hand the ‘baton’ onto new tenants.

"Clearly, community leisure facilities are not part of the college’s core business and we hope, as we all come out of the pandemic, the leisure sector will thrive, including Redlands, under new stewardship."

The college has overseen some developments at Redlands during its tenancy, including investment with the 3G football pitch, the adiZone fitness area, internal refurbishment of halls, changing rooms and the bar/function area. The college, in partnership with Dorset Council are also in the process of supporting Weymouth Hockey Club with grant bids to resurface and upgrade the Hockey pitch, also based at Redlands.

As Redlands starts to see the return of all outdoor and indoor bookings after the recent lockdowns and social distancing measures, Redlands Centre Manager Lewis Stripp said he is now looking forward to a busy summer and autumn schedule.

Mr Stripp said: "We have already welcomed back most outdoor bookings and we have a full schedule of indoor courses with our coaches and instructors – there is a clear public appetite and confidence for getting active after more than a year of lockdown!"

Weymouth College will be inviting interested organisations and groups to tender their services over the coming months with a decision expected before the end of this year.