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Whitworth Leisure Centre announces closure in huge blow to community as council bosses blame cost of living
Rossendale Council and the Rossendale Leisure Trust have announced plans to close Whitworth Leisure Centre in July.
The cost-of-living crisis, rising inflation and rising demand across all council services are factors behind the decision, the two organisations said.
Whitworth Leisure Centre includes gym facilities and a swimming pool. It was previously run by Community Leisure Association Whitworth (CLAW) but was taken on by the leisure trust three years ago. The swimming pool’s repair and maintenance has been the focus of discussions and concerns at council meetings over recent months.
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Rossendale Leisure Trust is an arms-length charity organisation which runs leisure and culture services on behalf of Rossendale Council. Today, its venues include Ski Rossendale, Rawtenstall’s Marl Pits leisure centre, Haslingden’s Adrenalin Centre, the Pioneer Gym at Bacup and the Whitaker Museum in Rawtenstall.
The trust has seen a number of changes and mergers in recent years. Its focus has widened from sport and leisure to include museum, culture and some catering activities.
Rossendale Council and the leisure trust made the Whitworth Leisure Centre closure announcement on Tuesday (May 23) after staff and councillors were told of the plan on Monday. Councillors attended a meeting on Monday night where the details were discussed in private.
Back in December, alleged ‘scaremongering’ by Conservatives over the state and future of the Whitworth pool was criticised by some Whitworth Community First and Labour councillors. However, the Conservatives stood by their actions.
A joint council and trust statement released this week on Tuesday said: “As higher proportions of council budgets are absorbed by statutory [legally required] and front-line services, councils’ ability to maintain provision in sport and leisure has come under increasing under pressure. The challenges and the impact of inflationary pressures along with the operating costs is forcing Rossendale Council and Rossendale Leisure Trust to implement a wide range of actions to ensure both can continue to operate.
“The council and trust took over the running of the leisure centre from Community Leisure Association Whitworth (CLAW) three years ago when it was at risk of closure. Although the centre was losing money at that point, the leisure trust had a solid plan to reduce the loss.
“But the pandemic and the subsequent massive increases in energy bills, along with staffing costs has seen this loss balloon to £280,000 per year. The trust’s overall costs for wages and energy have increased by over £1million since before Covid.
“A report by independent financial experts Grant Thornton has stated that if action is not taken to immediately address the budget deficit, both the council and the trust could be at significant financial risk over the next two years. “
The statement said that recent evidence from UK Active, a not-for-profit leisure industry association, showed that leisure centre operators face bills up to 200 per cent higher this year compared to 2019, with costs set to grow by up to 240 per cent next year.
This is on the back of the withdrawal of the fuel cost support by the government from April, when swimming pools and leisure centres were no longer classified as vulnerable.
During and after the covid pandemic lock-downs, concerns were raised at a national level by many leisure sector organisations about the huge loss of income to publicly-owned leisure centres which were forced to close for months and then make major social distancing changes, which impacted on number of people allowed in indoor spaces such as gyms, fitness studios and pools.
There was also debate about government financial help and leisure service policy, and about repositioning publicly-owned leisure facilities towards health, well-being and NHS agendas.
In Rossendale, one of the recommendations made by the consultants is that Whitworth Leisure Centre should be closed as soon as possible, the statement added. The closure will come into effect from July, with the leisure centre remaining open as normal until then.
Speaking this week after the official announcement, Rossendale Council leader Labour Coun Alyson Barnes told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The context at the time, around 2019, was that the leisure trust was making a small operating profit,. We thought we had cracked it and it had become a sustainable organisation. That’s when we started looking at future leisure services.
“But the cost of living crisis has since created problems for the council and the leisure trust. We cannot manage the new costs. And we are not alone. A Local Government Association report has highlighted the situation for councils across the country. Conservative governments have hollowed-out councils. ”
She added: “We are consulting with leisure trust staff. We think some people will be re-allocated to other locations in the borough. There is also some degree of turnover in staff, so the impact might not be too severe. That said, there are some members of staff who belong to Whitworth but, hopefully, we can minimise any impact.”
Despite the Whitworth Leisure Centre closure plan, Coun Barnes said the borough’s leisure ‘vision’ project for future services and venues was still relevant. The vision project was outlined at a council meeting in the winter. It included ideas for a cluster of key venues across Rossendale. Councillors have raised calls for a geographic spread of facilities for the east, centre and west of Rossendale.
Coun Barnes added: “Work has been done and the need is there. We are in advanced talks with Sport England and expect to deliver at least some of that vision. We are renovating tennis courts and pitches anyway, and there is funding from the Lawn Tennis Association and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.”
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