Plans to close leisure centre come under fire
PLANS to permanently shut a leisure centre have come under question following a consultation that has been branded ‘futile’ and ‘pointless.’
Dialstone Leisure Centre, in Offerton, Stockport, was closed in January last year due to flooding, and has not reopened due to the ‘significant damage’ caused at the site.
The council now plans to shut it down for good, in order to save £200,000 per year as well as the £150k price tag for bringing the centre back into use.
An ‘Active Communities’ programme was launched at Offerton Community Centre so people could remain active – and is intended to continue to compensate for the permanent closure of Dialstone.
The Lib Dem-run council also says it will continue to look at ways to enhance the leisure offer in the area.
But opposition members have questioned the decision to close the centre, particularly as only 20pc of respondents to an online questionnaire were supportive of the closure plan.
They also challenged claims that ‘the majority of users have been relocated elsewhere,’ noting that 92pc of the 66 respondents had not taken part in the alternative programme.
Coun Oliver Johnstone told a scrutiny meeting the report seemed to be ‘avoiding the fact that this consultation has really come out quite negatively.’
“It does sound like the same old story,” the Conservative said.
“We have held a consultation, it’s not said what we would like so we turn around and say ‘it’s only a handful of people and they have got it wrong,’ is basically the insinuation.
“I know those words weren’t exactly used by anyone but that’s the impression we are getting.”
Coun Christine Carrigan, of the Labour group, agreed it was ‘pointless’ carrying out the consultation if the council was not going to take notice of the responses.
And Coun Amanda Peers, Labour chair of the committee, shared their sentiments.
“I think the same consultation was a bit of a futile process because – without the money to back up an end result if you had required investment – what’s the point of carrying out the consultation?” she said.
Coun Peers added that Offerton residents had been given a ‘bum deal’ over the years, and were owed a ‘long-term viable solution’ for its leisure options.
“It is a large area, there are some areas of deprivation and people need to access good facilities and they deserve good facilities,” she said.
Grace Baynham, cabinet member for leisure services, believed the questionnaire results may be distorted as those who had happily relocated to the community centre were less likely to have responded.
However, she said chiefs were listening to the public and exploring ‘the art of the possible’ in terms of what to do next.
“The site has been in a state of deterioration for a number of years”, she told the meeting.
“It’s whether or not it’s viable to spend the money on doing this or it’s better to look for alternative provision that would bring better benefits to the community, rather than refurbishing something that will still be quite dilapidated.
“I think that’s a conversation we need to have, because it was closed under the previous administration due to anti-social behaviour and that’s not a problem that has gone away.”