A £2m "lifeline" could offer a path to save at-risk Gateshead leisure centres from closure, the town's Liberal Democrats claim.
At least two sports facilities are under threat of being shut down due to council budget cuts, with the Gateshead Leisure Centre in Saltwell, Dunston Leisure Centre, and the sports hall at Birtley Leisure Centre having been deemed at greatest risk.
With a final decision set to be made on the sites' future in just a few weeks, opposition Lib Dem councillors have unveiled plans to give the centres a "one-year lifeline".
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The party has called for Labour-run Gateshead Council to spend £2.1m of the local authority's cash reserves to cover their spiralling running costs for another 12 months, while also setting up a group of senior council officers, campaigners, and leisure industry experts to find a way of making the services financially sustainable for the long term.
More than 7,000 people responded to a council consultation on the proposed closures, with public outrage over the plans and major fears about the impact the loss of leisure facilities would have on communities' physical and mental health.
A protest was staged outside the civic centre in December, as demonstrators pleaded with council chiefs to come up with alternative plans to keep the leisure centres open.
Lib Dem councillor Ron Beadle, deputy leader of Gateshead's opposition group, said: “Whether these ideas will work cannot yet be known but what is needed is the opportunity to implement them and the involvement of campaigners and industry experts in bringing this about. We believe they should be given this opportunity.
“We also believe that the final decision on the proposals should be a matter for all councillors and not just the council’s all-Labour cabinet.”
The council's Labour leadership is due to rule on the future of the leisure centres at a cabinet meeting on January 24.
Lib Dem leader Jonathan Wallace added: ‘We want to give extra time to enable community and expert involvement to implement new ideas to improve leisure provision and grow income.
“So at the council’s annual budget meeting on February 23, the Liberal Democrats will propose that £2.1m be transferred from the council’s sustainability reserve to leisure services. This will enable all councillors to decide what happens next.
“Many Labour councillors have said they will do everything possible to save Gateshead’s leisure centres. This gives them the opportunity to show that they mean it.”
Labour council leader Martin Gannon reiterated calls for the Government to step in and save the leisure centres, saying that the authority's reserve money was needed elsewhere.
He said: “As the opposition are aware, the council’s reserved funds are needed to continue providing our most vital and in-demand services during the cost-of-living crisis, including social care for our most vulnerable communities.
"Councillors, residents and community groups across Gateshead were given the opportunity to complete the consultation between November 2 and December 20. The responses to the consultation will be considered by Cabinet later this month, as well as solutions suggested by industry experts to save as much of our leisure service as possible.
“In the meantime, the council is continuing to lobby for Government funding. We are seeking an additional £6.6m per annum in ring-fenced funding to safeguard our leisure services across the borough. If this is not achieved, then sadly we have no option but to rationalise our leisure services, using the consultation as the basis for our rationale.”
Gateshead Council has had its budget slashed by £179m since 2010 and is facing a financial black hole of £55m over the next five years.
It also revealed further plans before Christmas to make £14.5m of savings, on top of the leisure centres closures, in 2023/24 – hitting frontline services including park maintenance and bins.
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