Leisure centres an important election issue, party leaders agree

PARTY leaders at Gedling Borough Council agree that leisure centres are vital and need protecting.

Council leader Roland Spencer says they are keen to try to improve the leisure facilities.

He said: "We will continue to talk to the users in all of these areas to see if there is a way forward to modernise and improve the present leisure provision.

"This is one of our top priorities."

Labour group leader Councillor John Clarke believes more promotion is needed to boost attendance.

He said: "We need to get people to stay at the centres for more than one use, and we could do that by providing different types of games for example."

Liberal Democrat Councillor Tony Gillam agreed the council needed to do more to attract more people.

But he warned: "We need to be aware of what the private sector is offering and on certain occasions it may be appropriate to withdraw some facilities."

Mr Gillam added that a decision to close creches at leisure centres in the borough, to save an estimated �52,000 a year, had been unavoidable.

He said: "I can see they were an extremely important facility, but they were simply not economically justifiable."

David Goatham, chairman of the Save Arnold Leisure Centre campaign group, said he opposed any talk of closing leisure centres.

"The council should continue to provide leisure facilities across the borough," he said.

At council leisure centres in Broxtowe borough, creches were closed in 2009.

Councillor Milan Radulovic, leader of the Labour group on Broxtowe Borough Council, said more could have been done to save the creches.

"We would look at bringing those back at the first opportunity," he added.

Tory group leader Councillor Richard Jackson said more options needed to be looked at to try to save the service.

"We would have to see whether there is a private operator and not just have the creches open to people using the leisure centre," he said.

But Liberal Democrat David Watts, who is leader of the council, said keeping the creches would not have been economical.

"The reality is they were under-used," he said.

"We expanded the size of the gym in Bramcote, so we have poured the money back into the leisure centres."

Mr Watts also said despite the economic climate, the council should always find ways of making leisure centres viable.

At an election hustings event organised by the Nottingham Post in West Bridgford, Councillor Neil Clarke, Conservative leader of Rushcliffe Borough Council, said the number of leisure centres in the area could be reduced, or some could be run by local community groups.

He said there was a chance centres could close as a result of a council review, set to take place in the near future.

"We need to face reality," he said.

The notion was met with strong opposition from the other candidates.

Andrew Clayworth, Labour candidate for Abbey ward, said it was important to invest in people's health.

And Green Party candidate Sue Mallender, a sitting councillor in Lady Bay, said leisure facilities were vital due to a problem with childhood obesity.

Liberal Democrat councillor Sam Boote, who is defending his seat in North Keyworth, said: "I definitely do not think we should lose our leisure centres. They're good for health and they're good for social cohesion.

"It actually saves money because leisure keeps people out of the doctors."

Source: http://rss.feedsportal.com/c/32715/f/503354/s/1461a696/l/0L0Sthisisnottingham0O0Cnews0CLeisure0Ecentres0Eimportant0Eelection0Eissue0Eparty0Eleaders0Eagree0Carticle0E3480A50A70Edetail0Carticle0Bhtml/story01.htm

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