News

We are bitterly disappointed that the £9.821 million PFI credits have been withdrawn. However, we remain committed to improving sports facilities for the people of the district.

Although we were aware that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport had expressed its concerns about the project, the final decision to withdraw the PFI allocation is a huge blow.

We have fought hard to deliver this project - which had cross-party support - for six years and being forced to abandon it has been a setback to our aspirations and ambitions for the district.

To date, Shepway District Council has spent a total of £651,561. Much of this has been for consultants whose advice not only helped to lay the foundations that secured the PFI credits, but enabled the project to progress as far as it did. This equates to about £2.30 a year for every home in Shepway over the six years since the original project was conceived.

During those six years there have been changes and twists and turns that we could not have foreseen - the need to change from original plans to refurbish Folkestone Sports Centre to a new-build project; having to look at different funding methods and to submit new business plans - but we have all worked as hard as we could for as long as we could to keep it on track.

In moving forward, the council with its partners will now be thoroughly reviewing all aspects of the PFI project.

Working on this project has helped forge valued partnerships which we hope will continue in the future to help us fulfill our commitment to provide improved sports facilities for the people of the district.

This commitment is underpinned by the one of the key strategic objectives in Shepway Council's Corporate Plan for 2006/2009: To improve opportunities for sport, leisure and culture.