Campaigners have threatened a council with legal action over the “unjustifiable” closure of two leisure centres.
It was confirmed on Tuesday morning that Gateshead Council will shut down the Gateshead Leisure Centre in Saltwell and the Birtley Swimming Centre on July 21 – though it is hoped that both can subsequently be transferred into community ownership and reopened. But local residents who have protested against the closures have warned the local authority that they could mount a legal challenge.
In a letter seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the Save Leisure Gateshead group calls the shuttering of the facilities “unfair, irrational and simply wrong” – saying it leaves them “no option but to be willing to bring challenges if necessary”.
