Cornwall's leisure centres will need to be replaced in the next 20 years at a cost of more than £100million.

The future of five leisure facilities in Cornwall is currently uncertain after operator GLL told Cornwall Council that it could no longer run them without financial help.

Leisure centres in Falmouth, Launceston, Saltash and Wadebridge are all at risk of closure along with the hydrotherapy pool at Polkyth in St Austell.

Cornwall Council says that leisure provision is not a statutory service and that there is no budget available to keep the at risk centres open.

A report is set to go to the council's customer and support services overview and scrutiny committee next week setting out the proposals for a new leisure strategy and a general review of leisure services in Cornwall.

It reveals that the 13 leisure centres which are currently operated by GLL will "reach the end of their useful life before 2042".

The report adds:

"If the council was to borrow the redevelopment costs for these centres tomorrow, it would be £108million. Assuming all centres were replaced at the same time, the annual costs of borrowing to repay this would be around £5.8m per year over a 40-year period."

In setting out the current situation and why some services are currently under threat it explains that GLL had asked to alter its contract and remove the five facilities.

The report states:

"Supporting residents through Covid 19 has already hit the council's finances hard. Whilst no one can dispute the importance of leisure and physical activity in improving health, social and economic outcomes, the council must consider this within the context of funding other competing priorities.

"The council's first duty is to balance its books and provide those statutory frontline services for residents and it's second duty is to meet its statutory obligations across a range of demand driven services. There is no budget for subsidising GLL operations or for operating any centres directly and this was a strategic decision taken by the council to remove the budget for leisure prior to 2017."

And it later adds:

"The current situation is a result of extraordinary circumstances due to the pandemic and the ongoing economic impact on the leisure industry and not mismanagement by either GLL or the council."

As a result of the council's consultation on the future of leisure services it was announced this week that there have been nine expressions of interest received by the authority from organisations which could take over the threatened services.

Meetings are being arranged with those behind the offers which will be presented to the council's Cabinet when it makes a final decision on December 15th.

The report highlights that further work will be needed to work with organisations which are interested in taking over the services and to draw up business cases. It says that this work will continue after the Cabinet meeting.

Campaigners trying to save the leisure centres from closure say that the facilities are an essential part of keeping people in Cornwall fit and healthy.

They also highlight that they play an important role for schools to teach children how to swim, particularly with Cornwall surrounded by coastline.

Under the council's proposed leisure strategy it wants to ensure that residents live no more than a 30-minute drive from a leisure centre with a pool.

However, campaigners say that this policy would be at odds with the council's declaration of a climate emergency and work to reduce carbon emissions as people would have to travel more to access facilities.

There are also concerns that if the centres do close there may not be sufficient capacity at alternative centres for swimming classes and other users.

The leisure service report will be considered by Cornwall Council's customer and support services overview and scrutiny committee when it meets on Tuesday (December 7th).