Unions have called the impending closure of two leisure centres in Gateshead “incredibly difficult” – but welcomed the end of “inhumane” redundancy fears for their staff.
Gateshead Council agreed on Tuesday that it will close down the Gateshead Leisure Centre in Saltwell and the Birtley Swimming Centre on July 21 due to budget cuts. While it is hoped that both will ultimately be reopened once deals are finalised to transfer them into community ownership, the decision to shut them now has been met with sadness and anger from locals.
It means that the two centres will be lost just as the school summer holidays begin, while there have also been concerns about members giving up their leisure memberships and not returning once the sites do reopen. But Labour council chiefs insist they cannot afford to keep running the sites, with Gateshead’s leisure facilities running £1.4m over budget, and that the July closures are needed to ensure that employees can be redeployed and prevent the remaining centres being short-staffed this summer.
