THE "vast" cost of redeveloping a Hampshire leisure centre is likely to lead to cuts in services, a local MP has warned.

Conservative Mims Davies has spoken out about Eastleigh Borough Council's replacement of the town's Fleming Park Leisure Centre with a brand new £25million facility.

She said £22m in borrowing and the council's "financial mismanagement" would probably see services under threat.

“This is another very worrying development that will see Eastleigh Borough Council borrow the vast sum of more than £22 million to finance this rebuild," said Ms Davies.

She called on Lib Dem council leader Keith House for more transparency about how it will pay back debt from borrowing.

The council declined to comment, though Cllr House has previously said the scheme would return a profit for taxpayers.

As revealed by the Daily Echo, its cost has risen by £6million in two and a half years, with the original estimate standing at £19million.

Ms Davies added: “There has to be real concern over whether the council can afford this amount of money when it already has vast problems with its budget.

“We all want to see an improved Fleming Park but not at the cost of probable future cuts to services due to financial mismanagement."

Daily Echo:

Mims Davies said the level of borrowing for Fleming Park was "very worrying"

The redeveloped leisure centre is set to have a larger main pool, a learner pool with a moveable floor, a larger gym and a 15-court sports hall.

Construction is now well underway for the build, with work starting in May this year and expected to take 85 weeks.

Once the new centre is built the current building will then be demolished.

The overall cost of the project is £28.2million, which includes design, preparation and project management.

The council is funding construction with £22million in borrowing, £3.7million from government bonuses for affordable housing and £2.1million in grants from Sport England and Netball England.

Cabinet members gave the green light for work to begin in March and also extended, for a further 20 years, the contract of operators Places for People Leisure to run the new centre, with the income from the new centre paying the remainder of the centre costs through a guaranteed management fee.

Daily Echo:

An artist's impression of the new Fleming Park centre (AHR Architects)

Ms Davies added that work was originally supposed to be completed by the Rio Olympics this summer and that the watersports centre at Lakeside Country Park had also come in over budget at £3.1million.

She said: “Eastleigh Borough Council is fast losing the confidence of local people to run the services they need, and I again ask for its leader to show greater transparency on how it plans to fill the £154 million gap it has in its finances when it is borrowing yet more for Fleming Park and much of this is predicated on future New Homes Bonuses.

"I would hate to find out the council got itself in a cash flow crisis.”

Eastleigh Borough Council declined to comment on the concerns over council borrowing and Fleming Park but has said the scheme would pay for itself over time.

Daily Echo:

Leader Cllr House (above) has said the council had worked with partners to achieve a state-of-the-art centre which was excellent value for residents, of high quality design and could be delivered "at no cost to Eastleigh’s council tax payers”.

He has also previously said of the council’s borrowing: “Our investment in property and the financial return we gain from this has meant that we have been able to protect frontline services and continue to invest in our local economy and community.

“Far from being a cost to tax payers, this initiative generates significant income for the council with the return on investment more than covering the cost of borrowing.”