Locals have spoken out over the “devastating” prospect of beloved leisure centres in Gateshead being closed down.
At least two council -run centres are expected to be shut as civic centre bosses battle a budget crisis. The thought of losing critical facilities used by hundreds of thousands of people every year, with the Dunston Leisure Centre and the Gateshead Leisure Centre in Saltwell the two at greatest risk, has sparked warnings that the move could have serious long-term health impacts for communities.
Mark Nicholson, a daily user of the Saltwell centre that first opened in 1941 as Shipcote Swimming Baths, said it would be “devastating if it were to close”. The 37-year-old told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “ I use it pretty much every day and, for us, it is really important. Even though the council says it will keep some centres open, the next one for us would be 2.5 miles away.
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“It is a really busy area and there are lots of transport links to it, so I think the Gateshead Leisure Centre has the biggest potential. It has the biggest footfall now, but it could be bigger. It is not realistic to ask people to suddenly travel to Blaydon to go for a swim – it is not going to happen.”
Mr Nicholson suggested that one way to attract more users would be to offer a ‘pay what you can afford’ membership policy. His partner, Hannah Gray, added: “Closing them is short-sighted. If there are no services close to you, then you won’t use them.
“I appreciate that the council has to look at the profit and finance side and I know this is the impact of the Tory government’s austerity over the years. But the longer term implications on people’s health from this can only be negative.”
Gateshead Council has deemed its existing leisure offer “unaffordable” and say the services are due to overspend their budget by more than £2m this year. The authority has told residents that at least two of its centres must close, with a final decision due in January, and has also deemed the sports hall at Birtley Leisure Centre to be one of the least sustainable facilities.
Claire Husband, who runs a walking netball club in Birtley, says the Durham Road site has become a vital community hub for her members, who might find the prospect of signing up to a private gym to keep fit “intimidating”. She said that the success of the group has forged friendships and led to members meeting to play badminton at the centre every week too.
The 50-year-old added: “The benefits for people’s mental and physical health are so great. The age range of our group is 56 up to 74 and this is a place for them to come together and enjoy each other’s company, doing something that they enjoy.
“It would be very upsetting if it did come to an end. I would do everything I can, and I hope England Netball would, to make sure there was another venue.
“But this place provides us with the stability that people want. It is about knowing that they have somewhere close to where they live, that they don’t have to stress about getting there, and they know this is here for them. They are not bothered about how fancy it is or how sparkly it looks, it is a space for them to be with other people and enjoy what they are doing.”
The GMB union has this week called for Gateshead International Stadium to be considered for closure instead of the other sites, saying it is the most expensive to run and has the lowest community use. But regular visitor Patrick O’Kane, who lives close to the stadium, was full of praise for the friendly welcome he gets from its “amazing” staff.
Mr O’Kane, who works in PR, claimed that too few people know about council-run leisure centres in Gateshead. He added: “I get that the council has a budget and marketing is not a top priority. But when you have the kind of health impacts from closing these that everyone is talking about, there needs to be a solution.
“I am very fortunate that the stadium is right on my doorstep. But if some of the other centres close then the nearest one for some people will be miles away.”
The seriousness of the situation is not lost on the borough’s public health director, Alice Wiseman, but she admits that the council simply cannot afford to keep all the centres going without making major cuts elsewhere.
A bleak report last month warned that the size, condition, and age of the town’s six leisure centres, excluding the stadium, means they are not energy efficient and require essential maintenance work totalling a minimum £13.3m over the next decade. The local authority, which has had to slash £179m from its budget since 2010 and is anticipating a £55m shortfall over the next five years, plans to outsource whichever centres are left after this round of closures to a private operator.
Ms Wiseman told the LDRS: “Nobody wants to be in this position, it is a terrible position to be in, but we have not got the resources locally to be able to maintain these sites. I know that elected members are devastated too. But we genuinely do want to hear people’s views – it is important that they have the opportunity to have their voice heard.
“I have been really impressed with the way that people have come forward with solutions and work with us. I cannot make any promises because we need to set a legal budget for next year and how we do that will involve difficult decisions.”
She added: “I do not underestimate the impact this will have on people. But our surveys say that 40% of people cannot afford to use these services already and that is likely to increase. If you are looking at the whole council budget and need to make a decision around where resources are prioritised so that it meets the needs of the biggest majority of the population, we may need to choose other services. The example I would give is making sure we have good parks and green spaces, which can be accessed by anyone regardless of ability to pay.”
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