City College and council will run gyms, libraries and pools

College and Aragon Services will take on staff following the demise of Vivacity Leisure Trust

City College Peterborough and Aragon Services will run leisure services in Peterborough, it has been announced.

Following Vivacity’s decision (June 18, 2020) to terminate its contract with the council, Peterborough City Council has been working closely together with Vivacity to understand what services will be able to open before the end of a 90-day period to manage the transition.

Discussions have taken into account the Government’s latest announcements regarding the re-opening of leisure facilities and social distancing restrictions that will need to be adhered to and the current impact of Covid-19 on Peterborough.

It is the council’s intention for culture, heritage and library services to transfer to the City College Peterborough, which is a function of the council and leisure and all other services to transfer to Peterborough Limited (Aragon Direct Services). Alongside Vivacity, the council will be commencing the statutory consultation with staff and the trade unions to achieve the proposed transfer.

If services re-open before the transfer date they will initially be run by Vivacity before the proposed transfer to Peterborough City Council or one of its subsidiaries on September 17.

Councillor Steve Allen, cabinet member for housing, culture and recreation, said: “I would like to thank city residents for their continued patience. This is a complex transition involving the future of different services, venues and staff, made even more difficult by the higher than average Covid-19 infection rates in the city. Both the City College and Peterborough Limited who operate Aragon Direct Services are council controlled with experience in commercial and service-led areas and, as such, are ideal for taking over the running of leisure and heritage in our city. We look forward to welcoming Vivacity staff into these respective services”

The situation with facitilies which were run by Vivacity is:

Central Library re-opened on Monday, (August 10) and will operate a restricted service from 10am–4pm Monday to Friday, and 10am–2pm on Saturday. Unfortunately, Open+ (the library self-service option) will not operate during this time. Monitoring of the number of customers allowed in the library to ensure that there is adequate space for social distancing is currently in place. A queuing system outside the building is in place.

Customers are asked to provide their name and number for track and trace purposes.

• Hand sanitiser will be available for customers to use on entrance to and exit from the library. It is compulsory for users to wear a face covering whilst on the premises (these will not be provided).

• Book selection is restricted to 30 minutes for the library and an hour for customers wishing to use the public network (computer suite). Seating and newspapers have been removed. Library staff will ensure all books returned to the library are quarantined for 72 hours before being returned to the shelves.

• Anyone wishing to use the public network, can book a one hour slot by visiting the library or phoning 01733 864280 – all necessary cleaning and social distancing measures will be in place to keep customers safe.

Other libraries will be opened in a phased approach on the week commencing August 24. The first libraries to re-open will be: Bretton, Orton and Werrington in time for the start of the school term and smaller libraries opening by the end of September.

• Vivacity Premier Fitness, the Regional Swimming Pool and the athletics track will re-open on Monday August 17. Members have been emailed with the details of the safety measures that have been put in place and these have also been published on Vivacity’s website.

• Jack Hunt, Bushfield, Hampton and Werrington leisure centres will open at a later date, but before the end of September.

• Peterborough Lido will not be re-opening this year (see below).

• Bretton Water Park Due to easy accessibility into the park and the difficulty this poses in controlling numbers, alongside the levels of Covid-19 in the city both the city council and Vivacity have determined it unwise to re-open this facility this summer.

• Further announcements on the re-opening plans for Key Theatre, museum and Flag Fen will be made later.

Central library has re-opened.