Two Gateshead leisure centres at risk of closure have been granted a three-month reprieve.
Council chiefs have agreed to defer the shutting down of Gateshead Leisure Centre and Birtley Swimming Centre until the summer, to allow for more time for rescue talks that could save some services. Both sites had been earmarked for closure at the end of March under budget cutting plans and dozens of campaigners gathered outside Gateshead Civic Centre on Tuesday morning, ahead of a tense council meeting where the decision was due to be signed off.
Thousands of people have expressed their horror at the proposals over recent months and have been joined by ChronicleLive in campaining for them to stay open, with major concerns about the impact the loss of beloved facilities will have in some of the North East’s most deprived communities. As tempers flared at the cabinet meeting, Labour council leader Martin Gannon instead proposed funding the centres to stay open for “at least” an extra three months, likely continuing until some point in June – though no specific date has been decided on.
