Anger at closure of leisure centres (From This Is Wiltshire)

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Anger at closure of leisure centres

9:00am Saturday 25th November 2006

CRICKLADE and Wootton Bassett leisure centres are to close, leaving sports clubs stranded.

North Wiltshire District Council has agreed to close the two centres, as well as a third in Calne.

They will remain mothballed while consultants try to work out a way forward.

Operator North Wiltshire Leisure Limited is due to submit a proposed recovery plan to the council by the end of December - but there is no more taxpayers' money coming in to cover its operations.

North Wiltshire Leisure is an independent company set up by the council to run the centres.

The closure means Wootton Bassett will lose the use of its swimming pool, sports hall and squash courts.

In Cricklade the gym, arts studio and tennis courts will be out of action.

The rising cost of the upkeep of the pools at the two centres has been blamed for the closure.

Wootton Bassett Otters amateur swimming club chairman Tim Magness said that without a home pool, the 330-strong group's future was "pretty bleak".

"Without a pool I don't know how the club can continue," he said.

Mr Magness said that the club was always looking for more hours in the pool, which it would pay for, but the council had knocked it back because the facility needed dedicated hours open to the public.

He said that the club had not been given the chance to bid for more hours, something that could have improved the centre's financial performance.

North Wiltshire District Council lead member for healthy lifestyles Coun Dianne Moore said the pools were costing "thousands and thousands" to run each year.

"The cost of running swimming pools have gone through the roof," she said.

"We really do not want to give up on those centres."

She said the council was in discussions with a private group to take over one of the centres but she would not say which town was involved yet.

The council will continue looking for private or other operators to take over the pools and centres, she added.

Coun Moore said one of the problems was that the centres were fighting against more private competition than when they were put into a trust eight years ago.

She said the closing date had not yet been set by operator North Wiltshire Leisure Ltd.

Wootton Bassett town and North Wilts district councillor Chris Wannell hit out at the decision, saying it would rob people of a valued community asset.

The centre is is used by children from 11 schools and hundreds of residents in the town.

He said he expected the pools to close by Christmas and be mothballed until March.

He doubted an operator could be found in that short time and said he expected the leisure centres to close permanently.

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Your Say YourThis Is Wiltshire

Alison Johnston, says...
10:45am Sat 25 Nov 06

This is a disgrace, the town needs its sports facilities. I have taken my 6 year old to what may be his last swimming lesson this morning. He is devasated, and he wont even be able to go with his school in the new year. We moved to Wootton Bassett 5 years ago, and thought we had found the perfect place to raise a family. Unfortuantly we did not realize how inept the council was.

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Sue Coombes, says...
12:26pm Sat 25 Nov 06

It is a total disgrace. I thought the government was encouraging sport and exercise in the local community.With child and adult obesity on the rise, have the council totally lost their senses in closing our leisure centre.
I feel that once again Cricklade is the fall guy being on the edge of the North Wilts domain.

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Vicki Mayers, says...
1:49pm Sat 25 Nov 06

I cannot believe that this is happening and with such short notice! Why, if there have been financial problems, has private backing not been looked for prior to the closure? Could someone please tell me what exactly I'm paying my council tax for,if it's not to help fund a vital community service like a leisure centre. Will the council now be laying on adequate public transport for our children to use leisure centres in other areas?

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Gill Fitzgerald, says...
2:55pm Sat 25 Nov 06

North Wilts Council outlines 25 pledges on their web site and say " whether you live in Chippenham, Calne, Corsham,Malmesbury, Wootton Bassett and Cricklade the 25 pledges show how we (the council) are working to improve North Wilts". That only seems to apply to part of North Wilts and certainly not those border areas. The pledges promise improved access to local services and encouraging healthy lifestyles. I believe this decision goes against those pledges and results in failureof care to its residents.

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Graham King, says...
10:09pm Sat 25 Nov 06

This is appalling. Not only do we pay the highest parish precept in North Wilts but we get our leisure facilities stripped from us. I would be interested to know how schools will fulfil their curriculum obligations. I guess this land will easily be sold off to make some nice money to advertise the council's achievements at the next round of elections. Convenient that these facilities were place "in trust"?? Keeps fiscal responsibility away from the councillors when surely they should have been keeping a proper overview on the fiscal situation and letting taxpayers know what the situation was far earlier. We have just booked £1200 worth time for indoor coaching of the Wootton Bassett Cricket Club youth section. Not only vital time for the kids development but also needed to help coaches pass mandatory qualifications. We will now have to cancel this. What about the sports clubs who use these facilities year round. Maybe the sports hall fairy will appear and put something in their Christmas stocking.

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MICHELLE, says...
11:30am Sun 26 Nov 06

Not sure how they can close a perfectly good building without investing in our futures. That means everyone from our children to the elderly who all use The Lime Kiln Leisure Centre to stay fit and well. There's the obvious problems of teaching our chldren to swim via the schools, but also the adults teenagers and elderly that use the centre.There are so many clubs that use the centres for various sports and actvity. How is this going to help the governments idea of promoting fitness? No wonder we cant get any where with sport in this country, just look at what they keep taking away. The impact this has on our community is vast. Please sign the petition at the local centre to show your disapproval.

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Chris, says...
8:33pm Sun 26 Nov 06

I thought that this country had democratic rights and the views of the general public mattered! This disgraceful decision is obviously not what local people want as so far around 30 pages of petitions have been signed in Wootton Bassett alone! Where are the 11 schools supposed to go to do swimming lessons, as this is part of the national curriculum? It's rather coincidental that the 3 leisure centres closing are all in the middle of prime development sites! Does this mean that cash comes before children... Again?! I don't think that the North Wilts District Council have thought very hard about the consequences of their actions and I am behind the lesiure centre all the way with the rest of the community!

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Albert Davey, says...
9:06pm Sun 26 Nov 06

This is devastating news for the Wootton Bassett Cricket Club. We have seen a great upsurge of interest from young people for cricket. Almost 100 young players attend coaching in the summer months. We want to maintain and build on that interest. Our keen and hard working coaches have booked the Sports Hall at the Leisure Centre to provide valuable extra coaching in the winter months. There is an irony in the current position, for years we have tried as a club to make a booking for our senior players to practice in the winter months only to be told there were no vacant sessions. It has meant our players travelling to Swindon late evening to get some practice. We have at long last obtained a booking this winter and now find this will be cancelled. Perhaps someone could explain why there is a need for closure when the demand for facilities exceed those available?

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Richard Rogers, says...
8:53am Mon 27 Nov 06

For those affected by Wootton Bassett closing, ask the Liberal Democrat Executive Member at North Wilts District Council, Cllr Olivia Thomas (member for Wootton Bassett South), how she voted last night! Then take revenge in May next year at the polls!

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Ruth, says...
9:14am Mon 27 Nov 06

I cannot believe that NWDC are going to do this, have they thought about all the children that are learning to swim there ? Their pledge no 22 says improving leisure opportunities, I think not ! They are not sticking to this at all, and we need to fight this, my daughter goes there twice a week to learn to swim, so where will she go now, the council are killing off wootton bassett, and we as residents need to fight this.

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jo britten, says...
9:37am Mon 27 Nov 06

Not only do NWDC have pledges to ensure Leisure opportunites are improved, the dept for culture and sport has a manifesto and its top two priorities are childrens sporting and community leisure facilities. This is a disgrace and NWDC are a disgrace if they are going to sit back and let this happen. Cricklade is a thriving community, the leisure centre there is used by everyone in the town and the surrounding areas. This country is hosting the Olympic's in 6 years - and we are closing leisure centres - it could only happen here.

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Laura, says...
10:03am Mon 27 Nov 06

Cricklade is a thriving community. Sadly spoilt by the abusive teeenagers that hang around the leisure centre causing trouble and intimidating walkers and residents. Parents have no regard of residents close by, you drive too fast down Westmill Lane to drop your children off at the leisure centre and you think nothing of blocking Stones Lane ensuring the agricultural vehicles can't get down to the farm. The lesiure centre has become a menace to the residents close by and the parents and the children are to blame, 5 years ago this was not a problem. As the nearest community to the leisure centre we shall not oppose the closure.

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Laura, says...
10:10am Mon 27 Nov 06

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David Forrest, says...
10:14am Mon 27 Nov 06

Never again will the Lib Dems get my vote, they waste money on political correct nonsense, and close front line services. They should be ashamed of themselves.

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Laura, says...
10:24am Mon 27 Nov 06

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David, Wootton Bassett, says...
10:40am Mon 27 Nov 06

I have just returned from living in a small European country, which has no Olympic ambitions, but where closing a towns only sporting facilities would be absolutely unthinkable. If we now pull the plug on one of the constructive influences on the youth of our town, we should hardly be surprised if their energy finds other anti-social outlets, to the detriment of everyone. This closure is an arrogant, short-sighted act, of which North Wilts District Council should be thoroughly ashamed.

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Nick Carter, says...
1:36pm Mon 27 Nov 06

The loss of this facility to Cricklade would take the heart out of sport in Cricklade for Cricklade (and surrounding areas). Judging from the outpouring of emotion - the majority of people are aware of the contribution the centre makes to local lifestyles.

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Sonya Gregory, says...
5:55pm Mon 27 Nov 06

As a family we will be at total loss without Cricklade Leisure Centre. We use it nearly every day for swimming, football and squash lessons, adult football, circuit training and the Gym. There are many families in Cricklade and from the surrounding villages in the same situation.

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Linda Kanninen, says...
5:59pm Mon 27 Nov 06

These closures are a total disgrace and show the lack of committment by the government to sport, leisure and the community.
There is no joined up policy or thinking and just down the road from me in S Wales the same thing is happening despite protests.
Leisure centres are essential - new pools being built are usually only chest deep excluding many pool based activities - most people do not realise this at first and are fobbed off by the government saying there are more pools!
A nationwide campaign is required to save leisure centres and maintain them for the community - what is the cost to the NHS caused by inactivity and youngsters on the streets plus the loss of social contact for so many.
Total scandal - oh yes but we are hosting the Olympics and we can afford a war in Iraq!
Linda Kanninen

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penny, says...
11:12pm Mon 27 Nov 06

It would be a very backward step to close Cricklade leisure centre. At a time when the population as a whole is getting more overweight and less active closing a local facility is madness and totally at odds with trying to encourage more people to be active. The centre is used by so many children - there is already a long waiting list for swimming lessons at Cirencester so what will happen to children currently at Cricklade when it closes. It is vital to keep local facilities open

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sally wainman, says...
8:39am Tue 28 Nov 06

Sport England are currently running an everdayswim campaign, asking why more people aren't swimming!! They seem to have blocked out the fact that you cannot swim in a closed pool. This kind of thing is happening all over the country, as Linda Kanninen has pointed out. In Yarmouth they want to close the Sports Marina there and build a casino instead, so it is this government's obsession with money that is fuelling closures: swimming pools don't make money, casinos do:- no contest. The health issues seem to be completely overlooked.

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Elle, says...
6:55pm Wed 29 Nov 06

The council should be ashamed of them selves. How can they do this? The leisure centres are so useful and are needed in our community. You seriously need to rethink this matter, as it will cause a lot of upset to the town. Also I would like to point out that Wootton Bassett is a town and should have a leisure centre in it! I am very angry about this. Lime Kilm is like a home to some, and people do use it very often. Please for the sake of people in Bassett, and Swindon, rethink this silly idea!

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Elle, says...
7:00pm Wed 29 Nov 06

A lot of other people are not taking it very well. There as been a lot of upset because the council probably want to build even more houses when we don't need them! What we need is a leisure centre! Also, certain people that work there will lose their jobs, people that are members will lose their membership, clubs that run there will have to be cancelled, how can you even think about doing something like this when you know how much people love the leisure centres and how much we use them? SAVE THE LIME KILM!

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