Cornwall councillors have called on the Conservative administration to listen to thousands of people who have asked them to save their leisure centres from closure.

A petition of more than 5,000 signatures was formally received by the council at its full council meeting at County Hall this morning.

As councillors entered the Truro headquarters they were met by protestors who were calling on them to "save our leisure centres".

Five facilities in Cornwall – leisure centres in Falmouth, Launceston, Saltash and Wadebridge and the hydrotherapy pool in St Austell – are all currently at risk of closure after operator GLL said that they could no longer run them without financial support.

Cornwall Council's Cabinet has consistently said that leisure services are not a statutory service and there is no budget available for them.

It has instead carried out consultation on a new leisure strategy which says that residents should be no more than 30-minutes' drive from a leisure centre and has said that it will work with alternative operators of the threatened facilities.

The petition called for the final decision about the fate of the leisure centres to be made by all 87 elected councillors and not just the 10 Conservative members of the Cabinet.

However legal officers said that the decision was an executive function of the council which had to be made, by law, by the Cabinet and that it could not be delegated to the council.

The petition had secured enough signatures to be debated at the full council meeting this morning and councillors used the opportunity to highlight the strength of feeling about the issue.

Earlier in the meeting there had been a number of public questions about leisure centres and Richard Pears, Cabinet member for customer and support services, revealed that there have been nine expressions of interest received by the council from groups which could takeover the threatened facilities.

He said that meetings were being arranged with those bidders and that all expressions of interested would form part of the documents used by the Cabinet when they make their final decision on December 15.

Robin Moorcroft, the Independent councillor who launched the petition, said that the possible closures "affects the whole county and had implications for many".

He added: "The strength of feeling among residents of Cornwall is apparent."

Cllr Moorcroft highlighted that the petition reached its 5,000 signature target in less than seven days.

He said that the provision of leisure centres was important to help support people in maintaining both their physical and mental health and wellbeing.

And he added: "While it is not possible for all councillors to vote on the provision of leisure centres it should be possible for them to express their concerns. In this petition the people of Cornwall are asking them to listen to them."

Cllr Moorcroft highlighted a letter which had been sent by Swim England to all councillors that showed that just 61.6% of schoolchildren in Cornwall were able to swim 25metres unaided compared to 68% in the south west and 63% nationally.

Liberal Democrat leader Edwina Hannaford said that her group were unhappy with the council's leisure strategy consultation, saying that the survey was "biased".

She also said that there had not been enough consideration about the impact that closures could have on health and wellbeing and the NHS.

Labour group leader Jayne Kirkham referred to comments made by Richard Pears, Cabinet member for leisure, who said that there was a need to not just provide a network of leisure facilities but to also encourage people to exercise in Cornwall's free natural environment.

Cllr Kirkham said: "Can kids have their school swimming lessons in duck ponds? No."

She said that the Cabinet should consider the expressions of interest which have been received to run the at risk centres "very carefully" and urged the councillors not to set community groups up for a fall.

Mebyon Kernow leader Dick Cole said he wanted to "commend" all those who had signed the petition and paid tribute to Cllr Moorcroft for starting it.

He said that MK and Green councillors shared the concerns of people campaigning to save the leisure centres. He suggested that the council should take the service back in-house.

Cllr Cole said that the real issue was underfunding of public services in Cornwall and urged the Cabinet to put pressure on MPs to address this.

He added:

"The public are indeed speaking and I would appeal to the administration to rule out any leisure centre closures and closure of outdoor education centres while you are at it."

Cllr Pears said that the issue had been "hugely politicised and mischaracterised" and said he understood the passion that people have about leisure centres.

He added:

"This council has bent over backwards to allow people to be heard on this issue today."

Cllr Pears said that the Cabinet was "fighting incredibly hard to save the leisure centres" and said that it did not want any to close. He said it was trying to find a way forward to keep them open.

The council voted in favour of noting the petition and thanking those who had signed it and to take no further action as the decision has to be made by the Cabinet.

Leisure centres will be discussed by the council's customer and support services overview and scrutiny committee when it meets next Tuesday (Dec 7th) and the final decision will be made by the Cabinet on December 15th.

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