An option for Ships and Castles Leisure Centre be transferred to the town council will be voted on when councillors meet next Monday night.
Members of Falmouth Town Council met with cabinet member Richard Pears last week to discuss options for the future of the leisure centre on Pendennis Headland which is due to close on March 31. One of the options offered was for the site to be "devolved" to the town council.
The devolvement possibility will be discussed at the full meeting of Falmouth Town Council on April 4 when councillors will vote on whether to pursue the devolvement option.
What shape this devolvement will take is yet to be considered, whether it is just the green space surrounding the building, the building itself, something else or just reject the proposal.
At a extraordinary meeting today, members of Cornwall Council's Overview and scrutiny committee voted to refer the decision to close Ships and Castles back to cabinet based on the fact that the cabinet hadn't seen all the evidence.
Speaking at the meeting, Falmouth conservative town and county councillor Alan Jewell said he was "quite disappointed" in the Tory led cabinet decision and how it had been made. He said the area of over 40,000 people should never have been put in Tier 2 over its need for a leisure centre but should always have been in Tier 1.
However he said he was grateful to cabinet member Richard Pears for meeting with him and Falmouth Town Council last week to discuss the future of the site.
"I do welcome the meeting we had last week with Richard Pears and the town council," he said. "There is an option on the table for the town get this facility devolved.
"So I want to make the committee members aware of that and that the meeting will be next Monday the fourth when the town council will be voting on whether to get this devolved."
READ NEXT:
Don't raise 'false hope' warning after leisure centre closure sent back to cabinet
Falmouth Town Council has already put in a request to Cornwall Council for the building to be added to a list of community assets.
A decision is still awaited on that request but if it's agreed then any sale of the site needs to be delayed for six months to allow the community enough time to put in a bid. At the end of that period it can go on the open market when the community will also be allowed to bid alongside others.
Recently the town council was handed back the Princess Pavilion to run by Cornwall Council after GLL said it didn't want to run it any more which resulted in a 21 per cent council tax rise last year.
The council is also looking to fund large scale projects such as Kimberley Park Lodge cafe and studio development and the Dracaena Skate park. Whether taking on Ships and Castles will add to the burden remains to be seen.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel