Extra six months given to try and secure future of Falmouth's leisure centre
Cornwall Council has agreed to sell Ships & Castles - but not yet
Last updated 20th Jul 2022
Cornwall Council’s Cabinet says it is committed to continuing discussions about handing over Ships & Castles leisure Centre to Falmouth Town Council.
The Conservative led Cabinet agreed that the site of the centre should be disposed, but said that it would allow six months for devolution discussions to continue before the site is placed on the market.
Ships & Castles was closed in March by the Cabinet after operator GLL said it could no longer run the centre. The Cabinet also said that the leisure centre was not fit for purpose and that it would be better to create a new facility for Falmouth and Penryn.
However, when the reports for today’s Cabinet meeting were published there was surprise amongst locals about the size of the site which the council is looking to sell as it also includes part of the headland around the leisure centre. There are fears that if the site is sold it would be redeveloped for housing or a luxury hotel.
Campaigners have been calling for the council to hand over the centre to Falmouth Town Council and for the headland to be protected from development. The town council has said that it would like both the leisure centre and wider headland to be devolved to them.
Before the Cabinet meeting this morning protesters gathered outside New County Hall in Truro to urge councillors not to support the sale of the site. They argued that the site should be protected for future generations and that the leisure centre should be allowed to reopen.
Inside the Cabinet meeting the public questions were all about Ships & Castles and the proposed sale. And during the meeting council leader Linda Taylor had to repeatedly ask members of the public to stop interrupting proceedings and to be quiet.
Richard Pears, the Cabinet member responsible for leisure services, said he wanted to make it clear that the site which might be sold was only that of Ships & Castles and the surrounding area and not the wider headland. He said there was “no intention” to dispose of the wider headland area.
And he said that if the site was sold then money from that sale – up to £2million or half the net capital receipt, whichever is highest – would be ringfenced to providing funding for a new leisure centre for Falmouth and Penryn.
Cllr Pears said that no sale would happen prior to the conclusion of discussions with Falmouth Town Council about the devolution of the site. And the Cabinet member said that the council was “committed” to continuing those discussions.
He said: “This report recommends a timetable of six months for the conclusion of devolution discussions to allow Falmouth Town Council and community organisations time to bring forward their proposals. A final decision will be made following those devolution discussions.”
Louis Gardner, Cabinet member for the economy, welcomed the approach from Falmouth Town Council but also said that it was sensible for the council to set a clear timetable. He said that the council was already paying to maintain the site and “it is not fair that it is costing all the people of Cornwall, we can’t go on like that forever”.
It was highlighted that Falmouth Town Council had requested a dowry from Cornwall Council to help with any transition costs to take on the site and Cllr Pears said that this would have to form part of the negotiations about devolution of the asset.
The Cabinet agreed all the recommendations which were set out in the report including that the site should be disposed of; that devolution discussions continue for six months; and that money from any sale should be ringfenced for up to five years for a new leisure facility.