Agenda item

Stocksbridge Leisure Centre

It was moved by Councillor Alison Brelsford, seconded by Councillor Andrew Sangar, that this Council:-

(a)

recalls the decision of the Cabinet in October 2011 to remove £200,000 of refurbishment funding from Stocksbridge Leisure Centre;

(b)

believes this decision formed part of a long-term plan by the Administration to deny the people of Stocksbridge their leisure centre;

(c)

highlights that Stocksbridge is unique in its isolated location and its lack of public transport links to other leisure sites;

(d)

notes that while the Administration are proposing to close leisure facilities in Sheffield, the Coalition Government is investing £10million Olympic Legacy funding in leisure facilities across the City;

(e)

feels that Stocksbridge is not getting a fair deal from this Council; and

(f)

calls upon the Administration to reconsider their proposals for Stocksbridge Leisure Centre.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Bryan Lodge, seconded by Councillor Harry Harpham, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)

regrets that the Council has had to propose removing the subsidy from Stocksbridge Leisure Centre in order to balance its budget in 2013/14;

(b)

welcomes the development of a partnership between Sheffield City Council and Stocksbridge Town Council to look at options for the future provision of leisure services for Stocksbridge;

(c)

thanks Sport England for their support for a short independent study to help us look at all options;

(d)

welcomes the Council’s decision to provide additional funding for Stocksbridge Leisure Centre into 2013/14 to allow three months for options to be developed;

(e)

deeply regrets that this Government is making unprecedented and unfair cuts to Sheffield City Council and that the Council has had to reduce spending by £140 million over the past two years with a further £50 million for 2013/14; and

(f)

recognises that the present Administration is acting responsibly to protect services as far as possible, however, due to the scale of the cuts the Council is facing, it will have to make some difficult decisions and unfortunately the proposed withdrawal of subsidy and possible closure of Stocksbridge Leisure Centre is one of these.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

It was then moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Roger Davison, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the addition of new paragraphs (g) and (h) as follows:-

(g)

notes the minutes of Stocksbridge Town Council on 10^th November, 2011 that Councillor Philip Wood “gave assurances that [Stocksbridge Leisure Centre] would stay open”;

(h)

believes that these remarks were misleading prior to a local election and hopes Councillor Wood will apologise for his remarks

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.

The original Motion, as amended, was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-