Two leisure centres in Gateshead are set to be shut down next month – but there are hopes that their closures will only be short-lived.
Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre will shut their doors on July 21 because of council budget cuts, if plans are signed off by local authority leaders next week. However, community efforts to save both sites could allow them to reopen again in a matter of months.
Controversial plans to slash leisures services in Gateshead have been in the works since last year and have sparked outrage among locals left facing the prospect of losing much-loved centres that have been part of their community for decades. Civic centre bosses have argued that they cannot afford to keep running their centres as they are, with the area’s publicly-owned facilities said to be overspending their annual budget by around £2m, but admitted that the closures would be "devastating".
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Birtley’s pool and the huge leisure complex in Saltwell were earmarked back in January as those that Gateshead Council wanted to shut – but that decision was delayed to allow for further public consultation and talks over transferring the two sites into new ownership. The council’s cabinet is now set to deliver a final verdict next Tuesday that will see the centres close on Friday, July 21, just as the school summer holidays are about to begin.
But there are now firm expectations that community asset transfers that would take both facilities out of the council’s hands and into the control of new management will go ahead.
A Gateshead Active group set up to save the Gateshead Leisure Centre is hopeful of completing a deal to reopen it in the autumn. Meanwhile, Gateshead and Whickham Swimming Club and the Birtley Swimming Club are proposing to take over the Birtley pool – though that process is at an earlier stage and may see it reopen in April 2024.
No jobs will be lost from the centres’ closure, with all staff being transferred to work at the council’s other leisure sites – at Heworth, Blaydon, Dunston, Birtley Sports Hall, and Gateshead International Stadium.
Layla Barclay, of the Save Leisure Gateshead group that has protested against the planned closures, said Wednesday evening’s news was “really disappointing” – particularly for children who will lose access to their local centre just as the summer holidays start. The campaigners have vowed to get behind the asset transfer proposals, though Ms Barclay said she felt that result may “let the council off the hook” for what had happened.
Expressing worries about the centres closing in July before their future is secured, she added: “If people change their gym memberships and stop going, like they did in the pandemic, they will not necessarily go back [once the sites reopen]. That will have a big impact for whoever takes over.
“It is also really concerning that they are closing without the asset transfers being confirmed and official. That feels like an extremely high risk, to have it close without the keys being handed over.”
ChronicleLive joined with campaigners, sports clubs, and MPs in a campaign last year calling for the at-risk leisure facilities to be saved.
The council said it was not financially viable to keep the centres open until such a time as the asset transfers are complete, having already committed £900,000 of reserves to keep them running three months longer than had been planned. Council bosses told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that cutting the number of facilities they run should make them less susceptible to short-notice closures caused by staff shortages, a situation that led to Heworth Leisure Centre being shut for eight weeks last summer.
They have also pledged to protect the centres that are shutting down until they can be handed over to new owners – promising not to drain their swimming pools and to put security measures in place to deter anti-social behaviour. Plans are also being worked on to move school swimming lessons and other classes held at the Gateshead and Birtley facilities to the remaining leisure centres.
A report ahead of the cabinet meeting next Tuesday said that, despite 2,100 extra public comments on the plans since January, there was “no additional information gathered that would suggest a move away” from the plan to shut Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Pool. It adds that the decision will resolve the problem of leisure staff being at risk of redundancy “for any period longer than necessary” and produce financial savings that will help the council to “sustain a leisure offer”.
Labour councillor Angela Douglas, the council's cabinet member for culture, said “Making the difficult choices to close any facility is devastating. We know our leisure centres mean more to our communities than just a place to keep fit therefore it’s heartbreaking that potentially two centres will close. But due to budget cuts and minimal funding for leisure facilities from central government we are left with no option but to discuss the recommended closures at cabinet next week.
"Positively, the extension of the public consultation has provided us with additional time to engage the community asset groups and provide them with additional support towards the development of their business plans. Officers from various disciplines from across the council are working with the groups to ensure that their business plans are viable and sustainable and the early ideas that they have presented are exciting. They’ll be in a stronger position to access funding which we as a local authority simply can not attain.”
The council leisure centres that do remain open are expected to be outsourced to a private operator.
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