Gateshead International Stadium should be thrown into the mix for closure to help save other at-risk leisure centres, a union has urged.
The GMB union has branded the stadium a “white elephant” that costs more and has less footfall than other facilities that are under threat. Cash-strapped Gateshead Council recently announced that it is planning to shut at least two of its leisure centres after deeming the services “unaffordable” – with the Gateshead Leisure Centre in Saltwell and the Dunston Leisure Centre at greatest risk, having been branded the least sustainable.
The prospect of losing beloved centres has sparked dismay in communities that have used them for decades. But Gateshead International Stadium has been excluded from the current review of leisure services, on the grounds that it “has a wider and significantly different offer”.
