Hundreds of people in Falmouth have called for Cornwall Council to protect leisure services in the town and to not allow Pendennis Headland to be redeveloped.

Falmouth Town Council last night unanimously supported a response to Cornwall Council on the leisure services consultation which is considering the possible closure of the Ships and Castles Leisure Centre in the town.

The centre is one of four in Cornwall which are at risk of closure – the others are in Wadebridge, Launceston and Saltash along with a hydrotherapy pool in St Austell.

Councillors and town council staff had set up their own survey to ask residents for their views on the future of leisure provision as well as the headland where the centre is located.

More than 1,500 people responded and they indicated that they want the headland to be protected from redevelopment and would also like to see leisure services retained in the town and even improved.

Cornwall Council's leisure strategy consultation document states that the Ships and Castles site could be redeveloped to "support other council priorities".

However, the town council survey found that many people wanted to protect the headland from any further development.

One of the key criticisms of Ships and Castles has been that it has a fun pool and not a standard 25metre pool suitable for swimming lessons and clubs.

In responding to the survey residents have said they would like to see the centre stay open and be invested in to improve the facilities.

The town council has called on Cornwall Council to delay any decision on the future of Ships and Castles so that a community-led solution could be found to keep it open.

In a formal response, the council said:

"Swimming lessons are vital to a coastal community. Physical activity and sports are key to the health and well being of people in our town. We are concerned with the principle of running leisure centres for profit and believe that Cornwall Council must invest in leisure activities that will help tackle health inequalities and improve health outcomes for local people. The best way to do this may well be by taking centres back in-house.

"GLL has had four years to come up with ideas to make Ships and Castles viable and despite the large sums of money being given and loaned to the company, they have not done so.

"Falmouth's community has been given six weeks to come up with solutions and have not been given access to information that would help us find a solution.

"Falmouth Town Council does not at present have the capacity to take over Ships and Castles, at least partly because we have recently taken over Princess Pavilions, another of Falmouth's iconic landmarks that was leased out to GLL and recently handed back. With Town Council backing and investment from the precept, this is on the way to a viable and sustainable future.

"In the event that Cornwall Council does not accept the need to keep leisure centres open.

"Falmouth Town Council is keen to work with community groups to find a solution to the viability of Ships and Castles and will offer whatever support it can.

"It is vital that Cornwall Council delays the closure of Ships and Castles and provides adequate information on accounts and running costs of the centre right away, to give the community the chance to make plans.

"We request that as Cornwall Council was willing to invest in GLL, it now invests in the people of Falmouth either with a commitment to keeping our centre open or to enable this community to find the solution to retaining and improving the Ships and Castles facility, which is essential to the largest town in Cornwall and many of the neighbouring smaller towns, villages and hamlets."

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