The result of the consultation on the future of St Crispins Leisure Centre is shortly anticipated, with it coming before Executive council in November.
Hunting out the facts behind this consultation have become a pursuit of its own and confusion still hangs over the entire reason behind this consultation and what the council is trying to achieve.
The consultation has been held to gain public views on its future, whether the centre should remain open or if an alternative use should be found for the site, but the question as to why this consultation is happening has never been answered.
The centre is much-loved and used by a variety of residents and clubs with the only local squash courts in the vicinity of Wokingham.
As the member for Finchampstead South I have been contacted by residents who have used the facilities for years to ask me why WBC are looking at closing the centre when they tell me facilities are well used, and I have been unable to answer this question fully.
This is purely due to a lack of fact and transparency by the Liberal Democrat-run council.
It’s a question that has been put to Cllr Imogen Shepherd Dubey, lead member for finance who stated in one answer that the council must look closely at its financial responsibilities and balance this with needs and in another answer stated that this consultation was not due to financial reasons but that things had to change. We are still none the wiser as to why that might be.
The Liberal-led coalition has a long track record of ignoring consultations when the public view is different from what they want. Therefore, the natural suspicion is the fate of St Crispin’s was decided before the consultation started and this explains the lack of any communication explaining the reason for the change
I would ask that the council just be clear with us about the motivation behind this consultation rather than use this to implement a decision that has already been made on the future of the leisure centre. It is time for them to be upfront, honest, and adult and explain to the residents that they serve, what the issues are here and what they are planning to solve.
By treating residents in a transparent manner and being clear about their purpose I anticipate would prepare people for the change about to come.
Cllr Rebecca Margetts is the Conservative member for Finchampstead South on Wokingham Borough Council
