Calls for two Liverpool leisure centres to be saved from closure

Two leisure centres, including Park Road, are under threat

A council will move ahead with plans to hand over the control of two leisure centres to third parties as campaigners fear they will be shut down for good.

Liverpool City Council said it could not afford to continue to run Lifestyles in Park Road and Everton.

Thousands of people have signed petitions to keep the centres open and publicly owned

Councillor Harry Doyle said a £3.4m overspend in leisure services led to the decision.

The cabinet member for health, wellbeing and culture, said the council "simply doesn't have enough capital to invest in all our sites".

"Increasing budget pressures mean we have no choice but to take a long, hard look at our Lifestyles centres to make them affordable in the longer term," he said.

"These two centres are in poor condition and being used by fewer people, and as a result, we are having to subsidise their use more and more."

"We will do all we can to find other organisations to take on the running of the centres, and there would be no job losses, as staff would transfer to other Lifestyles sites."

There has been a pool on the site in Dingle since 1874 when a pool and public wash house opened, then known as Steble Street Baths.

Fatima Adan (L) said the leisure centre helps people in the area stay healthy

Campaigner Fatima Adan, from the Granby Somali Women's group, who started a campaign over fears the Lifestyles Park Road swimming pool could close, said it is "the heart of the community".

"You can't say on the one hand life expectancy is less in deprived areas and then on the other say we are going to shut down these centres or get the community to run them, which is on the way to privatisation," she said.

"If you don't want people burdening the NHS, you have to give them options to stay healthy in their community."

Dingle ward member councillor Steve Munby, who backed the proposals for Park Road, said the deterioration of the site had saddened him but "in the current circumstances" the local authority could not make the venue viable.

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Green Party group leader, Councillor Tom Crone, said he wanted a "proper discussion" about the plans.

"We cannot be losing these centres, they need to be available to the public," he added.

Councillor Jane Corbett, who represents the new Everton West ward, said: "We've got to make sure the final outcome is even better, stronger and more sustainable for the community's well-being, particularly our children and young people."

Committee members agreed by majority to vote in favour of ratifying the decision made by cabinet in December.