Running clubs fear for future of athletics track

The athletics track at Northgate Sports Centre is used by many clubs including Ipswich Harriers, Orwell Panthers and Ipswich Jaffa

Running clubs fear they could be left without "essential" facilities amid uncertainty over the future of a sports centre.

Northgate Sports Centre in Ipswich is owned by Suffolk County Council but has been run by Ipswich Borough Council (IBC) for 25 years.

At the end of March, management of the facility, based at the high school, will return to the county council.

The council said it was doing all it could "to find a positive solution".

IBC ran the sports centre, which includes a floodlit athletics track, sports halls, tennis courts and a gym, said it decided not to renew its contract as it has "ambitious plans for its other leisure centres".

The current agreement between both councils and the school ends on 31 March.

As it is not the county council's statutory responsibility to run leisure services - that rests with the borough council - an alternative solution needs to be found.

The county council said a number of options were being discussed, including bringing in an external provider.

The sports centre is based at Northgate High School

Jenny Lau from the Orwell Panthers, an athletics club for people with disabilities, which has used Northgate for 20 years, said there were no comparable facilities in Ipswich.

She said its facilities were "essential" for its members' physical and mental wellbeing and it was "disconcerting" not knowing what was happening.

Margaret Leek, secretary of Ipswich Harriers, which has used the track for more than 40 years, said the sports centre was "very important" to the club.

She said because of the uncertainty, the club was unable to take on new members or host events and claimed its athletes were "worried and frustrated not knowing what's going to happen".

Alec Wright, vice chair of Ipswich Jaffa running club, which has more than 400 members, said members were "anxious and very concerned".

He said "some answers and some certainty on our future would be most welcome".

A county council spokesperson said: "We absolutely understand that Northgate Sports Centre users are currently facing uncertainty about the future of the facility.

"Whilst we cannot go into details at this stage, we'd like to reassure people that we are doing all we can to find a positive solution for everyone."

Bryony Rudkin, portfolio holder for communities and sports at IBC, said the authority was "merely the operators of the contract" and the site could still be operated by the county council if it wanted to.

The government last month announced it would not support the borough council's funding bid for £18m to help regenerate Broomhill Lido and for the development of a new sports centre at Gainsborough.