Campaigners are ‘over the moon’ with a new plan to protect a popular leisure centre from closure.
Gedling Borough Council has been reviewing its entire leisure offer as part of a new strategy to make its portfolio more financially sustainable, but residents and councillors feared the new plans had put Calverton Leisure Centre at risk of closure.
The Labour-led council currently provides an annual £1.3 million subsidy to help run all of its leisure centres, which it says is “not sustainable”.
As part of the review, it has been looking at how it manages joint-use sites, including Calverton and Redhill leisure centres.
Council documents revealed it was considering withdrawing from the joint agreements, and residents in Calverton set up a petition to prevent such a decision being made for the popular facility off Flatts Lane.
A consultation was also held asking residents for their thoughts.
At a cabinet meeting on March 26, the council has recommended that it continue running the leisure centres under current arrangements.
In a statement, council leader Cllr John Clarke (Lab) said: “First of all, no decision has yet been made.
“What we have been doing is looking carefully at how our leisure centres remain sustainable and affordable for the future. Like many councils across the country, our leisure services are heavily subsidised, and we need to make sure we manage them responsibly so residents can continue to enjoy these facilities for many years to come.
“I am pleased to say, because of the work we’ve been doing to modernise our leisure offer, particularly through the development of Carlton Active, we are now in a stronger position. Having a modern, efficient facility in Carlton will make our leisure services more economically sustainable overall, and that means we can continue to support and subsidise our other centres that are important to our communities, including here in Calverton and also in Arnold.
“Next week, the council’s cabinet will consider the recent consultation and a recommendation that the Calverton Leisure Centre remains open, operated by Gedling Borough Council. Cabinet will also consider the recommendation that Redhill Leisure Centre continues to be operated by the council.”
Calverton Leisure Centre is currently operated and managed by the council, but there are joint-use agreements in place with Redhill Academy Trust, which runs the school site, and Nottinghamshire County Council, which owns the site.
The new strategy originally recommended that the centre be retained for community use “in the short term”.
However, over the long term, the strategy could have given the council “the opportunity to transfer management back to the school and Nottinghamshire County Council, or work with another provider to manage it to reduce the council’s liability.”
Under the strategy, the council is hoping to replace the ageing Richard Herrod Centre and Carlton Forum Leisure Centre with a new purpose-built facility called Carlton Active.
It would be built where Richard Herrod currently stands.
Cllr Andy Meads (Ind), who represents Calverton, has been campaigning to protect the centre.
He said: “I don’t know what swung it in the end.
“It has all come out exactly how we wanted; possibly the fact you can’t ignore the consultations, or the stuff people have been saying on Facebook, or the petition we did in January.
“I’ve been really giving them a hard time privately with emails and ranting at them. People are over the moon.
“Community engagement in this village is sky-high. The whole thing has been ridiculous. Usage is up, and they have been struggling to fit people in.”
