Camelford leisure centre to close?

Impertinent journos have been pestering Cornwall Council to explain why staff at Camelford leisure centre have been told the council subsidy is being withdrawn at the end of the year. The council insists no decisions have been taken ahead of next week's Cabinet meeting, yet staff are equally insistent that they've been told to find a fresh source of revenue or find new jobs when the centre closes. Here's an extract from the council's statement:

".....the level of savings required within the Council's leisure service could not be identified within the existing operation. Following careful consideration of a range of issues, the leisure centre at Camelford which is run jointly with the local secondary school, has been identified as a site which the Council may no longer be able to finance and operate. The Council's Head of Leisure Services Simon Blamey recently met with the head teacher from the school to discuss the potential impact of this action. Staff from the Council will now be working with the school and staff from the centre to consider how the facility might operate in the future if the Council decides it can no longer finance and operate the centre."

Local residents, councillors, Facebook, Dan Rogerson MP etc are all being signed up to a "hands off Camelford" campaign. I think you'll be able to hear more about this on BBC Radio Cornwall tomorrow morning. The council has about 20 leisure centres in its portfolio and you wouldn't want to bet that any is safe. Next week's cabinet should be even more fun than usual.