St Mary's Leisure Centre campaigners angry at council boss' pay off

Leisure centre user Joy Richardson said the money being given to the CEO was not justifiable

Campaigners fighting to get a council to save a leisure centre have called a proposed £190,000 pay off to its chief executive a "complete insult".

St Mary's Leisure Centre has been shut since Christmas after Southampton City Council said repairs costing more than a million pounds were needed.

The BBC revealed on Friday the Tory-run authority agreed last month to give CEO Sandy Hopkins the pay out to leave.

The council said the two issues were "completely different".

St Mary's Leisure Centre, which was previously managed by Solent University, has been closed since Christmas

It also said it has started an investigation into the leak of "confidential documents".

Nick Chaffey, a member of the Save St Mary's Leisure Centre group, said the £188,239 pay off planned for Ms Hopkins would keep the leisure centre open for a year.

The council previously said the building had significant structural and maintenance issues and there were likely to be repairs required which "could run into over a million pounds".

The net annual budgeted cost of operating the leisure centre before the pandemic was £148,000, according to the authority.

'Throw money around'

But the news of Ms Hopkins' departure and planned pay settlement, after the council said it needed "a different style of leadership", has infuriated campaigners.

The Southampton City Rollers women's roller derby club are among the teams affected and have been forced to move elsewhere.

Member Joy Richardson said: "I just don't think it is in any way justifiable.

"It is a complete insult to the people and to the leisure centre. If they have this kind of money to throw around they must have the money to be able to pay for St Mary's Leisure Centre."

Leader of the opposition Labour group Satvir Kaur said if the council wanted to save the leisure centre it could.

But council leader Daniel Fitzhenry said the decision and next steps on the venue were " a completely different issue" and would be dealt with by cabinet members this month.