Decision made that Falmouth's leisure centre WILL close at end of March
But Cornwall Council says it will work to provide an alternative
Last updated 4th Mar 2022
Ships and Castles Leisure Centre in Falmouth will close at the end of this month after Cornwall Council’s Cabinet ended the process of finding an alternative operator.
The centre was one of five facilities that operators GLL had said it could no longer afford to run. The council said it has no budget to help subsidise leisure centres in Cornwall which is not a statutory service.
While Saltash Leisure Centre has remained open under GLL and Launceston Leisure Centre will remain open until next year when it will be handed back to the trust which owns it the future of the centre in Wadebridge is less clear.
The Cabinet today agreed to extend the procurement process for Wadebridge where a bid has been received to take it over, but it agreed to end moves to keep the Falmouth centre open.
Richard Pears, Cabinet member for leisure, said that Ships and Castles was “not fit for purpose” describing it as a “fun pool” which has “very little membership”.
A very heated meeting at County Hall saw members of the public shouting “shame on you” at the Cabinet members as they discussed the future of the Falmouth centre.
There was also anger that local councillors were restricted to asking questions and not allowed to make statements about the issue and members of the public who had submitted questions were not allowed to ask supplementary questions after responses had been given.
Cllr Pears said that the council was “committed” to working with the public, organisations and groups in Falmouth and Penryn to find a way of providing leisure services which are fit for purpose.
However local councillors questioned this saying that there was no detail about it, no indication of where funding might come from and suggestions that it would take “years” before anything would be in place.
Cllr Pears said: “No-one wants to be where we are today, I certainly didn’t come to this council to shut down leisure centres.”
He added: “Ships and Castles is just a fun pool mainly for children and tourists and that significantly reduces its wider appeal. In a catchment area with over 40,000 people it has just over 300 members and that is unlikely to ever increase to viable levels.”
However he added: “We are not giving up on Falmouth. It has been inspiring to see the community come together.”
And he said that “rather than propping up an unsustainable leisure centre we should look to alternative provision of leisure” in Falmouth and Penryn.
The Cabinet member committed to “developing plans for a fit for purpose alternative that can be brought forward”.
Council deputy leader David Harris seconded the recommendations proposed by Cllr Pears and said that after the council had agreed a difficult budget with almost £60million of cuts it would not be right to divert money to Ships and Castles.
“It would not be reasonable to seek to impose further savings elsewhere in order to save Ships and Castles from closure.”
John Bastin, Cornwall councillor for Constantine, Mabe and Mawnan, said that he remembered a time when Ships and Castles offered a number of services including birthday parties.
However he said that had reduced and said that even the opening times of the centre are now “sporadic” and it was not possible to book to swim there. He questioned whether it had been run properly.
Cllr Pears said that the centre had always had low attendance rates and claimed that “Ships and Castles has never broken even from the day it was opened”. He said that three different operators had run it and never made it profitable.
Alan Jewell, Cornwall councillor for Falmouth Boslowick, urged the Cabinet to hand Ships and Castles to Falmouth Town Council to run.
He said that the council had already taken on Princess Pavilion in Falmouth and made it a success and said that they could work with Pendennis Leisure CIC which had bid to takeover the leisure centre to make it work. And he said that a new leisure centre for Falmouth “will never happen”.
Cllr Pears said that the council was keen to continue working with local groups to find alternative leisure provision in Falmouth.
Laurie Magowan, whose Falmouth Arwenack ward includes Ships and Castles, criticised the process the council had gone through and said that the closure of the centre was contradictory to council strategies to improve health and wellbeing and the lives of children.
He asked the Cabinet members what they would think if leisure centres in their own areas were being closed. Council leader Linda Taylor said that question would not be answered.
Cllr Pears closed the debate saying: “I didn’t come here to shut things down. The problem underlying all of this is incredibly low usage of leisure centres all across Cornwall, with this one having more problems than anywhere else.”
He said that the consultation has raised time and again that “we must build a leisure offering that is fit for the people of Falmouth”.
On the future of the Ships and Castles site Cllr Pears said that was not a decision for the Cabinet to make today and said that the disposal of the site would be considered under the due process as a separate issue.