WIRRAL Council has been slammed after it was revealed a leisure centre is to close two mornings a week.
Woodchurch Leisure Centre is looking to reduce its hours in a bid to meet ‘the ever-increasing, council-wide financial challenges.’
The news was uncovered by the council’s Liberal Democrat group, who said an officer had told them all leisure centres’ opening hours had been ‘looked at.’
A spokesman for the council said the decision was taken as the earmarked closure times are when the centre is ‘traditionally’ quiet.
A letter written by one of the centre’s users and revealed by the Lib Dems this week said: “Having only just started using the pool and yoga facilities here, in the very short time I have noticed what a lifeline and community it is to the people that use it.
“I have swam early mornings – lunches – everyone knows everyone and it is clearly very much a social place as well as a fitness one. The staff there are always helpful – yet sadly they do not know their fate yet.”
It is believed the move will see a ‘reduction’ in opening hours on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the Carr Bridge Road facility, although the council officer’s response to the resident said there would be ‘no compulsory redundancies.’
Oxton Cllr Allan Brame slammed the move.
He said: “The council has made no effort to speak with and consult with the groups and users of the leisure centre about these proposed changes.
“The culture of this council is to make decisions behind closed doors then to push them through following sham consultations, we saw this recently over proposed changes to the bin collection service.
“We were able to get them to back off on the bin changes, unless they involve leisure service customers in their plans they may find they are forced into another humiliating climb down.
“They should come clean as soon as possible on what they have planned for leisure services.
“Wirral Council needs to get the basics right and be open and transparent in its decision making.”
A council spokesman said the decision was taken to make sure the centre was “efficient and able to open at the times when people want to use it.
He added: “The early morning times we are looking to close the centre are those times when it is traditionally not used by residents.
“We have seven leisure centres across Wirral – providing hundreds of services and activities seven days per week – which come at a significant cost to the local tax-payer.
“In times of continued austerity, if we are to continue providing such services then we must make them efficient, and designed around what residents actually need.
“Opening a leisure centre, fully staffed, at times when very few people actually want to use it is not a sensible or appropriate use of public money.”
It comes after it was revealed in March that Wirral leisure centres are under-used and struggling to attract new customers.
At the time, the council said a £1m overspend by its environmental department was largely down to falling numbers of people attending facilities across the borough.
The local authority said it was looking at ways of improving its leisure centres.
Article originally appeared on Wirral Globe
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