7:41am Tuesday 12th December 2006
By Gordon Simpson
Figures released detailing the harsh reality of the financial situation facing the leisure centres in Cricklade and Wootton Bassett have failed to deter those bidding to save them.
North Wiltshire District Council, in partnership with North Wilts Leisure Limited, made the finances available on Friday.
Cricklade is facing a projected deficit of £168,605 by April, while the Lime Kiln Centre is looking at a figure of £203,062.
Nick Carter, the finance lead for action group Keep Leisure In Cricklade, said the sums had not put them off.
"They say very much what we had expected," he said. "We are not shocked by the deficit shown.
"What we need to do is understand all the meat behind the flesh.
"For example, there's a management fee of about £75,000 a year charged to Cricklade.
"We have asked for a breakdown of that in full detail, because a lot of it may not be required if we took it on ourselves."
Save Lime Kiln vice-chairman Richard Ward said he was not overly concerned about the deficit.
"There are no surprises in those figures, in terms of what lamentable reading they make," he said.
"We have people who have offered their services, as financial experts, who will be analysing them very carefully.
"They show what a complete hash has been made in the running of the centres historically, but they don't have a great impact on the future of them.
"We are not put off in the slightest by them.
"There's nothing in there about the savings that could be made, so we don't know if the running costs stated are the real amount they could be.
"We are now in a situation ourselves where we have got four or five really good looking options for keeping the place open.
"That's what we are concentrating on. The figures make interesting reading, but nothing more than that."
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