SAVE OUR SWIMMING POOLS.
--Steven James Pratt (Fly Agaric 23)
Leisure centre 'too expensive to save '
11:27am Tuesday 1st November 2011
A COUNCIL has defended its decision to close a town's leisure centre and denied claims that it has already agreed to sell the site to developers.
Durham County Council leader Simon Henig and officers attended a meeting in Crook to explain why they decided to close Glenholme Leisure Centre.
The centre, which had a gym and swimming pool, was one of six in the county to be earmarked for closure as the council strove to shave £3.5m from its sport and leisure budget.
Ultimately, only Glenholme and Ferryhill were closed, leaving residents and campaigners furious.
At the meeting organised by the Three Towns Partnership, Coun Henig said he did not enjoy closing public facilities but said it was a necessity.
He said money had to be saved owing to cuts in funding from the Government.
Terry Collins, director of neighbourhood services, said Glenholme was under-used and would cost too much to bring back to a decent state.
He said it was one of the most expensive to run in the county and was making a loss of £259,000 a year.
He said the council wanted to encourage more people to take up sports but claimed outdoor team activities are more effective than leisure centres.
Mr Collins also said the council would seek to address the hole left in leisure in Crook by the closure, and suggested the authority might install a gym in Crook Civic Centre.
The audience also heard about plans to move the library into the civic centre, known locally as the Pagoda, which would then free up the library's site for redevelopment by a supermarket.
The council officials were quick to dismiss claims from campaigners that they had already agreed to sell the Glenholme site for redevelopment, but said any money made from the site would be used for leisure.
However, some residents remained unconvinced by the council's claims.
David English, chairman of Crook Community Partnership, said the council was turning Crook into a condemned town while resident Michael Manual accused the authority of acting like Vikings and pillaging the community.
The council spends £335,000 on running Ferryhill Leisure Centre and said it had not sold the land to any party.
A council spokesman said the authority was still looking into what was to happen to the Ferryhill centre.
