Wyre Council urges Government to support YMCA leisure centres with funding

The council approved proposals to set aside extra funds of £340,165 in November, to support leisure amenities run by the YMCA in Thornton and Garstang.

But it took the decision not to reopen leisure centres in Fleetwood and Poulton, both of which have swimming pools.

Councillor Lynne Bowen, portfolio holder for leisure, health and community engagement, said in a cabinet meeting the centres with the most members and the most people using them were those at Garstang and Thornton, making them the most viable.

The decision was met with anger from Fleetwood residents, who set up a campaign group on Facebook amid concerns for the health and wellbeing of the community.

Coun Bowen has now written to Government asking for financial support, and for it to release details about the promised £100 million in leisure funding to allow Wyre Council to access it.

Coun Bowen said: "The impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic in our community and upon the provision of our public sector leisure services has been significant. As a local authority with four leisure centres and three swimming pools we have been hit very hard by the impact of Coronavirus with the services seeing a near collapse in income levels.

"Despite subsidising our operator partner, Fylde Coast YMCA, with just under £1 million of additional funding since June 2020, they are currently only able to open two leisure centres and a single swimming pool.

"Our communities are quite rightly very frustrated and concerned about the longer term impact this will have on health and wellbeing.

"The future viability of our leisure centres and pools is a major concern for this council and we are in urgent need of financial support.

"Given the level of additional subsidy needed to keep our charity sector partner afloat in the immediate short term, we have necessarily had to rationalise our leisure offer in order to ensure even this reduced level of service is sustainable.

"Whilst I welcome the announcement of the £100 million Government fund allocated to support leisure facilities, I am disappointed that we are still awaiting details of how to bid for this funding. We urgently need this detail in order to plan what services can be reopened for the reminder of the financial year.

"I would also ask that consideration is given to support for the next financial year as our predictions indicate further subsidies in excess of £1.3 million will be needed and we have evidence to suggest that income levels and memberships may continue to be affected by the pandemic beyond 2020/21.

"In summary, my ask is two-fold, one that further detail regarding the £100m Government funding is released and that funds are allocated as quickly as possible and two that Government considers what support it can offer to Local Authorities to maintain adequate levels of leisure centres and swimming pools going forward into 2021/22 and beyond."

Wyre's opposition Labour councillors called in the Cabinet's controversial decision to leave Fleetwood and Poulton’s leisure centres and pools closed, with a meeting taking place on Tuesday (December 15).

Fleetwood Councillor Lorraine Beavers questioned the council's decision to open Garstang leisure centre instead of Poulton or Fleetwood, when only "30 per cent of the Wyre population is rural."

Coun Beavers said: "We knew about the Government funding for leisure before the last cabinet meeting, so why wasn't this letter written before now?

"I hope and pray the council does reverse this decision, which is why we called it in.

"The decision to keep Fleetwood and Poulton closed was based on flawed data, and they should listen to residents.

"We understand the financial implications of the pandemic, but I don't understand the decision to reopen Garstang when it serves only 30 per cent of the borough's population.

"I am glad these steps have been taken, and I hope they change the decision, because it hasn't been made based on community services."

But Councillor David Henderson, leader of Wyre Council, said: "Thornton and Garstang are the centres that we agreed with the YMCA should reopen first.

“These centres have retained the highest proportion of their members since reopening after the first lockdown and therefore provide the best chance of bringing in money to support the other centres that have not been as busy further down the line.

“We understand public concern that the centres at Poulton and Fleetwood are not reopening at the same time as Garstang and Thornton, however I want to stress that this situation is being reviewed monthly and it is our intention to continue to work with the YMCA to reopen all the centres as soon as it’s viable to do so.”