A junior football club may be able to save Woodchurch Leisure Centre from demolition.
Wirral Council needs to save £20m in order to escape its budget black hole, with two damning government reports published last November saying the authority must spend less on leisure services.
The cuts plan would see 11 libraries, two public golf courses and Woodchurch Leisure Centre closed down, although the plans are not yet set in stone and could be thrown out by councillors.
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At the time of writing, a huge 4,480 people had signed a change.org petition opposing the plan to demolish the leisure centre.
Many have castigated the council for wanting to close it, with some calling the move “disgraceful” and others calling on the local authority to save the “vital” facility.
On its consultation website, Wirral Council said its plans to close the centre were due to “the condition of the built facilities on the site, low usage levels compared with other sites, the required level of investment required and the subsidy it carries.”
The statement added: “It is proposed that the centre is demolished to make way for a growth in outdoor leisure provision.
“The site adjacent to the leisure centre will see the construction of a new supersize 3G artificial grass playing pitch and accompanying built facility during the 2022-23 financial year.”
The proposal would save the local authority an estimated £402,000 per year.
Paul Tyler, club secretary at Glenavon Junior Football Club, confirmed to the ECHO that the club was interested in taking over the leisure centre should the council decide to not run it anymore.
However, Mr Tyler said it was “very much early days” and that the club would need to know much more before doing anything more than expressing an interest.
He added that the club would “keep an open mind” with regards to the leisure centre.
Cllr Allan Brame, who represents Oxton, the neighbouring ward to the leisure centre and the ward in which the football club is currently based, said: “We are very supportive [of the club’s interest].
“We think this is an option that really needs to be considered. If an alternative use [to demolition] can be found then great.”
On Wirral Council’s public consultation website, the reason for the need to save money was stated.
A statement on the website read: “Wirral Council is facing significant financial challenges and is currently going through a detailed process to set a budget for the next year. This is part of a wider approach to address long term structural issues in the council’s finances and deliver substantial savings to balance the budget.
“The council is legally obliged to set a balanced budget or risk government intervention, and the savings measures currently being proposed are intended to put the authority on a stable financial footing for the long-term.”
