It was agreed at a meeting today that GLL will stop operating Ships & Castles from next year.

An agreed change in the GLL contract means that GLL will no longer operate two leisure centres - Wadebridge and Ships & Castles in Falmouth - and the hydrotherapy pool at the centre in St Austell, beyond March 2022.

Following further negotiations, it was confirmed at the meeting that GLL will continue to operate the leisure centre in Saltash beyond March 2022.

The leisure centre in Launceston will also continue to be run by GLL until January 2023. The Cabinet agreed that the Council will provide funding from reserves so that the leisure centre in Launceston remains open until January 2023 when the Council's lease on that facility expires, and the building is handed back to the Coronation Park Trust. Cornwall Council said they will support the Trust to evaluate longer-term options for leisure provision in the town.

A public consultation on the future provision of leisure services was launched in September, which included the request from Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL), the social enterprise company that runs many of Cornwall's Leisure Centres, to change its current contract with the Council.

As part of the consultation, the Council invited local groups and organisations to come forward and work alongside the Council to keep those leisure centres open.

As a result, there are several initial expressions of interest that will now be fully evaluated for viability, and then to progress to a number of business cases to potentially take on the running of one or more of the two Cornwall Council owned leisure centres.

It was also agreed that capital funding, previously set aside to make improvements to the leisure centres in Falmouth and Wadebridge, will be made available to any new operator.

Cllr Richard Pears, portfolio holder for customers said:

"We have taken on board the views of our residents through public consultation and engagement, and the views of our fellow councillors through the scrutiny committee, as well as through the public consultation.

"I welcome that residents,community groupsand local councillorsfeel so passionately about leisure services and thank the thousands ofpeople who responded to the consultation.

"We now have some interesting ideas on the table for Ships and Castles and Wadebridge Leisure Centre, and we will be working with those groups and organisations to try and find a way forward with the possibility of one-off Council funding to support any transition to a new operator to keep these leisure centres open beyond 31st March 2022."

James Curry, Head of Service for GLL in Cornwall, added:

"We remain committed to ensuring a sustainable way forward for the other facilities under threat of closure and, in accordance with our Cornwall Council contract, will collaborate fully with those parties and organisations interested in taking them on. As a not-for-profit social enterprise, our principal aim has always been to provide local communities with good quality, accessible leisure provision and today's decisions are a welcome, positive way forward."

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