Ards and North Down council decide future of leisure services

Campaigners held up banners and signs outside the council meeting in Bangor

Ards and North Down Council has voted to keep its leisure centre arrangements unchanged after campaigners held a rally urging them against further privatisation.

Currently, facilities in the north Down area are owned by the council but operated by a private firm, while others in Ards, Comber and Portaferry are run in-house.

Local residents had voiced concerns that they could be priced out of using their local leisure centres if more private companies took over management of the sites.

On Thursday evening, councillors voted to continue to use the current hybrid system of ownership for a number of leisure services, and to continue outsourcing the running of other services to private firms.

Charity worker Sam Murdock was among those who attend the rally outside the council's headquarters at Bangor City Hall while the debate took place inside.

She has been a member of Ards Leisure Centre "for a long time" and uses the service regularly.

"I feel very strongly that privatisation is not the answer," she said.

Sam Murdock said the difference in leisure service prices across the borough put residents into a "postcode lottery"

Ms Murdock pointed to higher prices in the Aurora Leisure Centre in Bangor which is currently run by a private firm.

"If you want a gym membership in Aurora it's £10 more a month that it is to have a gym membership in Newtownards which is just unacceptable," she said.

"It puts people into a postcode lottery about what services are available to them - it's not fair."

'It was paid for by the people'

Miles Tallentire feared a reduction in staff and services if Ards Leisure Centre was privatised

Seventy-one-year-old Miles Tallentire also attended Thursday's rally.

He was not only in favour of the council "retaining control" of its existing leisure centres, he hoped it might even take back control of those it already outsourced.

The pensioner visits Ards Leisure Centre up to six times a week for swimming, pilates and pickleball.

"It was paid for by the people," he said.

"It's our rates, I'm assuming, paid for the building of it and we get so much value out of it and for the community, it's everything."

He said privatisation would "have to make a bottom line" and he feared there might be a reduction in staff and services if Ards Leisure Centre was outsourced.

Privatisation is 'cheaper and more efficient'

The options debatedby councillors included bringing all leisure facilities in the borough in-house, fully outsourcing the facilities or setting up an arm's length company owned by the council to operate facilities.

Speaking before the vote, Ards resident Ian said he would like to see the leisure centre privatised.

"I think it would be cheaper and more efficient if it was privately owned," he said.

"If it's privatised, there'll be competition, and they will have to keep the prices low.

"I'm glad we have the facilities, but it's expensive considering it's a council-owned leisure centre."

Social interaction

Local residents said they were worried that privatisation would price them out of using their leisure centres

Gwen Crozier, who visits Ards Leisure centre twice a week for the active-aging classes to help with her arthritis, said she would "really miss" the centre if it went private.

"If it was to go private, I don't think I could afford it. I would probably end up having to leave."

Iris Brown said she could not understand why councillors considered privatising the centre.

"It's already making a profit."

Barbara Martyn said the leisure centre helps her "keep moving".

"A privatised firm is not going to be interested in coffin dodgers like us," she said.

"For some people, this place is the only social interaction they have."

Stephen Clarke says prices "inevitably" go up when things are privatised

Also speaking before the vote, Stephen Clarke said he thought Thursday's meeting was "important to try and garner the opinion of the public".

"[My local] facility is excellent. I don't think I would welcome privatisation," he said.

Mr Clarke added: "While there can be many many problems with the way the council run it, I'm not absolutely convinced that privatising it will improve the quality of the service.

"I think, with privatisation, inevitably prices do go up, and not always necessarily with the corresponding increase in facilities."

Jessica, who uses Ards Leisure Centre regularly, said she was worried the facility would become less community-oriented if it had been privatised.

"If you have both local leisure centres run for profit, I think you are going to see a lot of cost-cutting happening," she said.

Jessica said she enjoys the community spirit at Ards Leisure Centre

Thursday's rally was organised the trade unions GMB, Nipsa and Unite.

They had called for all leisure facilities in the borough to be brought back under council ownership.

The unions claimed this would make facilities accessible and affordable for the community, and offer greater job security and fair pay to staff.

GMB senior organiser Alan Perry said it was time to "cease lining the pockets of shareholders whose only interest is profit for themselves".

Green Party councillor Lauren Kendall has voiced her opposition to leisure services being further outsourced

Green Party councillor Lauren Kendall also voiced her support for bringing leisure services back in-house as she said it was "essential to ensure accountability, equity, and reinvestment in our communities".

She branded the hybrid system as "unfair" and "economically unsound" as she claimed staff face "unequal terms" and there is "management duplication".

Alliance Party representatives for the borough were also in favour of the fully in-house model.

However, Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) and Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) councillors said they would support the continuation of the hybrid style.

Alderman Philip Smith of the UUP said he is unsure how those who supported bringing all the facilities back in-house expect to cover the cost.

He expected this to be up to £1m a year, which he said would need to be raised through rates hikes or cutting other services.

What does this mean for services?

On Thursday, Ards and North Down councillors voted to support the continuation of the hybrid style.

It means Bangor's Aurora Aquatics and Leisure Complex and Holywood's Queen's Leisure Complex continue to be outsourced to a private provider.

The facilities in the north Down area are currently delivered by Serco and its operating partner Northern Community Leisure Trust (NCLT).

The Northern Community Leisure Trust has operated facilities in the North Down area on behalf of the council since 2012, but the contract is due to end in March 2028 and there is no opportunity for the contract to be extended.

In 2023, councillors voted to delay a decision on the future of its leisure services.

Workshops have been held since to allow the topic to be discussed and to facilitate a report being brought to the council for a decision.

Leisure services at most councils in Northern Ireland are run by in-house operators, but facilities in Belfast have been outsourced to a management company.