Report recommends Falmouth's Ships and Castles leisure centre should close
A community group behind a bid to save the site says they're "gutted"
Last updated 1st Mar 2022
A community group which launched a bid to save Ships and Castles leisure centre in Falmouth say they are “gutted” after Cornwall Council announced it should close
The leisure centre was one of five facilities under threat of closure in Cornwall after operator GLL said they could no longer afford to run them.
That was in June last year and since then Saltash Leisure Centre has been saved, Launceston Leisure Centre will be handed back to its owners and discussions are ongoing about the future of the hydrotherapy pool in St Austell.
However Cornwall Council had delayed decisions on the future of the leisure centre in Falmouth and Wadebridge Leisure Centre after inviting bids from alternative operators to take them over.
A final decision is set to be made at an extraordinary Cabinet meeting on Friday and a report published last night recommends that Ships and Castles should close and that more time should be allowed for work to allow an alternative operator to take on the Wadebridge facility.
In addition the report states that the Falmouth leisure centre site could be sold off – a fear among people in the town who wanted to protect the centre and the headland site from redevelopment.
Pendennis Leisure, a community group which was formed after an outcry of objections in Falmouth, said they were "extremely gutted" about the recommendations which will go before councillors.
In a statement they said: "We are absolutely gutted to read that Cornwall Council officers are recommending that Falmouth’s Ships and Castles close in their Leisure Procurement Outcomes paper".
Call for action before leisure centre "lost and closed forever"
The statement continues: "We offer our sincere sympathies and support to the Ships and Castles workers, members and customers who will be so badly affected by this proposal.
"We will continue to do all we can to keep Ships & Castles operating and ask everyone concerned to help us to email the politicians responsible for this decision now; don’t delay or it will be too late and our leisure centre will be lost and closed forever".
Gemma Adams, director of Pendennis Leisure, said: "The Cornwall Council plan to close the only public leisure centre serving almost 50,000 people in Falmouth, Penryn and surrounding areas is short-sighted, wasteful and will have a devastating effect on our community. It feels particularly unfair to recommend closing just one leisure centre in Cornwall – Falmouth’s.
"Over 3,000 people signed our petition to keep Ships & Castles open, to protect the site on which it stands and to work together to improve swimming facilities in Falmouth. Throughout our campaign and Cornwall Council’s procurement processes, we have never been given the opportunity to talk directly with decision makers about their plans.
"I would like to ask the man responsible for this decision, Councillor Richard Pears, what he has to say to the hundreds of children and their families who depend on Ships & Castles swimming lessons and for whom there is no space at the pools of Carn Brea, Helston or Truro or with other local providers? What does he say to the 1,000+ local children and their teachers who depend on Ships and Castles as the place within walking distance of their schools where they can complete their statutory Key Stage 2 swimming lessons?"
The group added: "We urge Cornwall’s leaders to override the officers’ recommendation when they meet on Friday. We urge Cornwall’s councillors to speak up for the clear needs of our residents and ask doctors, teachers, other caring professionals and everyone in our community to put pressure on Cornwall’s leaders to do the right thing when they meet on Friday by telling them to keep Ships & Castles open while a better solution is found".
Plan to close leisure centre branded "short-sighted"
Cllr Pears, Cabinet member responsible for leisure services, said in a statement: "We will discuss all the options at the Cabinet meeting, but it is with a heavy heart that I have to report to them that we have not been able to find a workable and affordable solution to keep the leisure centre in Falmouth open.
"We, and the organisations that came forward to express an interest in running the leisure centre, have worked tirelessly to try and find a way to keep it open, and I would like to thank all the organisations and stakeholders involved for their efforts and commitment.
"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".
He added: "As we explained at the beginning of this process, we, alongside other local authorities, need to make some difficult decisions to ensure our critical services and statutory obligations are met – bearing in mind that there is no statutory requirement for local authorities to provide leisure services.
"No one underestimates the benefits of fitness and exercise, but the membership figures remain stubbornly low. The pandemic has affected the choices that people make, and they are accessing fitness and exercise in different ways.
"This has affected their viability, which I think has become clear to those organisations that came forward with proposals for running them. None could find a way of running Ships and Castles in Falmouth without a very significant subsidy from the council".