Petition launched to save at risk leisure centre

Sian Powell said "all possibilities" should be explored before the leisure centre was closed

A runner has launched a petition to save her town's leisure centre from closure.

Teme Leisure, which has run the centre in Cleobury Mortimer since 2008, is handing the contract back to Shropshire Council after the local authority withdrew an annual grant of £23,500 in March.

Sian Powell said the venue was used by 26 different sporting groups and almost 200 members, and said it was "not tenable" for many users of the centre to travel elsewhere.

Council leader Heather Kidd said the funding cut was disappointing, but essential if it was to avoid running out of money this financial year.

The leisure centre off Love Lane will close on 3 December if an alternative arrangement to keep it open is not found within the next few months.

The closest public gym would then be Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire, which is eight miles (12km) away.

Ms Powell said using other facilities could involve travelling "30 minutes each way"

"We live in the countryside and there's very limited public transport," said Ms Powell, a run leader for the Cleobury Mortimer Running Club.

"We've got a big teenage population who use the facilities and they can't drive and there's no bus service to Tenbury.

"You're looking at 30 minutes each way to [leisure centres in] Kidderminster and Ludlow. That's an hour before you've even done any exercise.

"For a lot of people that's not tenable in terms of the time they've got, including parents who need childcare to cover them going to the gym, for example."

Teme Leisure, a not-for-profit organisation which also runs the leisure centre in Ludlow, said the Cleobury Mortimer site had always required external funding.

But in losing the council grant from 1 April would result in an estimated deficit this financial year of about £44,000 if it stayed open.

'We haven't given up on it'

Ms Powell's petition to save the leisure centre has been signed by more than 1,000 people, which means it will receive a debate at a future meeting of all councillors.

The Liberal Democrat leader of Shropshire Council said the local authority was trying to find ways to free up money to keep the centre open.

"We haven't given up on it, we're looking at other ways, but we can't do a deal at the moment with Teme Leisure," she said.

"I know that members of my cabinet are going to be talking to Cleobury Town Council to see if we can find a way through to keep it open for them."

Another possible option is that a different leisure provider takes over the running of the centre.

South Shropshire's Conservative MP Stuart Anderson described the centre as "a vital facility for the community" and urged Shropshire Council to work with local residents to secure its future.