Council admit closure of Ashington Leisure Centre is inevitable

Posted by The Journal on Dec 29, 09 09:00 AM in News

AN ageing leisure centre in one of Northumberland's biggest towns is to close - and a major exercise is being launched to decide what will replace it.

Cash-strapped council chiefs admitted yesterday that the closure of Ashington Leisure Centre is inevitable, amid warnings that the existing building and equipment is in serious danger of failure within the next 12 to 18 months.

County council bosses - faced with having to make budget savings of between ÃÂ£20m and ÃÂ£30m next year - say further investment in the centre cannot be justified because of its failing swimming pool plant, leaking roof and other expensive problems.

The timescale for closure is not yet clear, but officials will now carry out a detailed planning exercise using a Sport England model, and consult with user groups, to decide what facilities will replace the axed centre.

The Institute Road complex boasts two pools, a large sports hall, a gym, a bowls hall and other facilities, but the council claims usage is low and customer satisfaction levels poor.

There is no guarantee that it will be replaced by a similar-sized leisure centre, and there is the possibility that its closure will leave Ashington without a swimming pool.

Community-use leisure facilities could be provided as part of planned investments in new school buildings in the town - and research will be carried out on how other sports centres in Blyth, Cramlington and Morpeth can fill the gap left by the closure.

Earlier this month it was revealed that the Ashington centre was at risk of closure as part of budget savings, but Liberal Democrat council leaders now say the state of the building means the situation is much worse than originally thought.

Hundreds of local people have backed a campaign launched by Ashington teenager Adam Nichol, 14, to keep the centre open.

Yesterday Lib Dem executive member and Ashington county councillor, Simon Reed, said the centre would not be closed until alternative provision was agreed, unless plant or equipment failure forced the council's hand.

"It is simply not worth investing more money in that building, because the plant is close to failure within the next 18 months," he said. "We are going to use the next six months to find out exactly what is needed to replace the centre and what the demand is.

"I believe there is a huge opportunity here to re-model leisure in Ashington and give people facilities they really want. We will look at a multi-site option and are talking to the two school pyramids about their plans for new buildings. If the leisure centre is to close we need to make sure that people's needs are met.

"However, it is too early to say what will replace it until we do the planning and talk to user groups."

Peter Jackson, leader of the opposition Conservative group, said: "This is an absolutely brutal cut in the face of difficult circumstances in Ashington. It seems quite extraordinary that the administration is doing this in isolation, when the fairest way would be to make decisions as part of a whole county strategy on leisure.

"There is no need to close the centre next year because we believe a radical re-structure of County Hall would achieve savings which would make these knee-jerk service cuts unnecessary."

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1 Comments

Anonymous said:

It's a shame no one tells the sports centre staff before these stories are published in the media. Maybe someone from the media should contact some of the members of staff and ask them what they think?

December 29, 2009 3:04 PM