Cornwall Council accused of 'misleading statement' on at-risk Falmouth leisure centre
Campaigners calling to keep Ships & Castles open have demanded an apology
A Cornwall Council Cabinet member has been asked to apologise for “misleading” statements which were issued about the closure of Ships and Castles leisure centre in Falmouth.
Cornwall Council’s Cabinet is set to consider a report on Friday which recommends that the centre should close after bids to take over the centre were deemed to not be viable.
In a press release issued by Cornwall Council on Monday night Richard Pears, Cabinet member responsible for leisure, was quoted as saying that the bids all relied on the council providing long term funding.
He said: “However, the bids put forward to operate the leisure centre in Falmouth, all relied on the council being able to heavily subsidise its running in the long term. We have said all along that this is precisely what we cannot do.”
However, Pendennis Leisure, a community interest company formed to takeover the facility, said that this was misleading and that they had not sought long term funding.
They have called on the council to correct the statement and for Cllr Pears to apologise.
In a statement they said: “The assertion that all the bids to run Ships & Castles requested long term heavy subsidy is factually incorrect.
“The Pendennis Leisure bid sought one off transitional support as we were invited to do so as part of Cornwall Council’s procurement process. We did not ask Cornwall Council “to heavily subsidise its running in the long term”.
“We requested one-off transitional funding to get Ships & Castles back on track, and for this to be paid over three years, after which point we would be operating free of subsidy.
“Cornwall Council’s procurement process required us to sign Non Disclosure Agreements which are still in force. We are therefore unable to share the details of our business plan until Cornwall Council permits, or until the procurement concludes.”
The company said that it would provide a summary of their bid as soon as the council allows.
They added: “We have written to Cornwall Council’s media team and to Cllr Pears requesting the withdrawal of the statement. We call on Cllr Pears to apologise for the misleading statement and to correct the public record himself.”
Gemma Adams, director of Pendennis Leisure, said: “Yesterday was a day of great community anxiety, upset and anger. Our team of volunteers spent the whole day focused on talking to outraged people in Falmouth and Penryn.
“We didn’t initially realise that the inaccurate reports about the bids requiring long term heavy subsidy stemmed from Cornwall Council’s own statement.
“We have asked Cornwall Council and Councillor Pears to retract the false statement which is surely prejudicial to the decision the Cabinet is being asked to make on Friday.
“The statement has misled decision-makers and the public and will very likely have influenced their view on the appropriateness of closing Ships & Castles. Ultimately we are committed to delivering better value for money for the local tax payer whilst transforming the existing centre into a vibrant community asset.”
Cornwall Council and Cllr Pears have been asked to respond to the comments from Pendennis Leisure.