Council considering future of St Crispin's Leisure Centre

Wokingham Borough Council’s decision-making executive approved a consultation on St Crispin’s Leisure Centre last night (29 June) in order to help decide its future.

The centre has been losing users since the new Wokingham Leisure Centre at Carnival Hub was opened last year and the council is considering whether it should continue, or the site be used for something else.

The consultation, which will run for eight weeks from July 10 to September 4, will help the council make that decision.

Cllr Ian Shenton, executive member for environment, sport and leisure, said: “It is important that we make the best use of our facilities and that is why we are thinking about the future of the centre. Nothing is decided and we will use the findings from the consultation, alongside other information, when a decision is made.

“The council has invested very heavily in sport and leisure facilities and will continue to do so, but investment and use of assets must always consider value for money and be for the overall good of the whole community.”

Investing in leisure

The council has invested significantly in leisure facilities in recent years, totalling £52.9million.

The Sports and Leisure service is reviewing its work to have a greater focus on overall active wellbeing – not just a focus on leisure centres. This requires a shift into community activity with a clear focus on health intervention and prevention.

During the consultation, the council will be talking to key stakeholders, including those groups and organisations that use the centre regularly.

The consultation will ask for people views on five specific options set out in the report discussed by the executive last night:

• Keep the leisure centre open
• Close the centre and transfer asset to St Crispin’s School (The Circle Trust)
• Close the centre and use for other service(s)
• Close the centre and dispose of site with or without planning for residential development
• Close the centre, demolish the buildings and mothball site until land values increase and/or a service need identified

Those taking part in the survey will also be able to suggest other options to consider.

The future of the leisure centre

Cllr Shenton said: “The decision on the centre’s future won’t be taken lightly: I think there are pros and cons of all the options and we must consider a lot of factors. It is particularly important to stress that this is not a cost-cutting measure; due to the nature of our contract with the provider, Places Leisure, we would not save money by closure. But we believe it is worth considering the options to see if a better use could be made of the centre or land.”  

There will be drop-in sessions for people to find out more at the centre on:

• Tuesday July 18 – 12noon to 1.30pm
• Thursday July 20 – 5.30pm to 7pm
• Saturday July 22 – 12noon to 1.30pm
• Wednesday July 26 – 12noon to 1.30pm
• Friday July 28 – 5.30pm to 7pm
• Sunday July 30 – 12noon to 1.30pm