By Rebecca Maer
[Updated 18.12.2024 with council statement at end]
Pressure is mounting on Eastbourne Borough Council to talk to more than one leisure operator about running the Sovereign Centre as it emerged that others are interested.
Another company has confirmed to the Eastbourne Reporter that it approached the council about the centre, where two of the three pools are being closed to save money.
And now Josh Babarinde, the Liberal Democrat MP for the town, has written to the council urging them to consider other organisations.
He wrote: “I know that potential operators have contacted the council in the last few days to discuss what role they could play in the future of the Sovereign Centre.
“While these organisations didn’t express an interest at the time when the council was seeking a new operator from 2020, I believe it would still be valuable to hear them out at this stage.
“I am therefore appealing to Eastbourne Borough Council to engage with these organisations to understand more about their capabilities – and to understand whether they may have concrete proposals to sustainably operate facilities like our training and fun pools.”
The Liberal Democrat-controlled council has made the controversial decision to close the popular fun pool and the accessible training pool to save money. It is only negotiating with Wave Leisure, which runs sports centres in the town.
The council says that if it cannot balance the budget, there is a risk of bankruptcy. This would mean all non-essential services, such as the leisure centre, would close.
But more than 7,000 furious residents have signed a petition against the move and Conservative opposition councillors have asked why talks have been held with only one organisation.
Who else is interested?
A Freedom Leisure spokesperson said in a statement to the Eastbourne Reporter: “We can confirm, having become aware of the potential closure of the pools at the Sovereign Centre in Eastbourne, that we have reached out to a senior officer at the council with an offer to discuss the future of these much-appreciated community assets and how we could assist in any way.
“We have been advised that the council will be undertaking a review and that we may be contacted in the New Year.”
At a meeting of the scrutiny committee this week (9 December), dozens of residents braved the cold and rain to demonstrate on the steps of the town hall (above). See our report here.
At the meeting, officers and Lib Dem councillors were asked why no other companies had been approached.
What does the councillor who heads leisure say?
Cllr Margaret Bannister (Lib Dem) is the deputy leader and Cabinet member for tourism, leisure, accessibility and community safety. She said at the scrutiny meeting: “This ‘We have not gone out to market’ keeps coming up time and again.”
She said when the council was looking for a new operator in 2020, other organisations were not interested.
“The only people who were interested were Wave Leisure because it’s a 40-odd year old building and needs a lot of money spending on it.”
Her comments were greeted by jeers from the public gallery, with people saying that was during Covid lockdowns four years ago and that the situation was different now.
What does the senior officer say?
Senior officer Ian Fitzpatrick, director of regeneration and planning, told the meeting that the council was negotiating an agreement with Wave Leisure but it was not yet signed.
He said of asking other organisations: “In terms of our intention to go out to market, in the short term, we don’t think that would be the most advantageous position for the council in terms of our ability to deliver against the need to deliver savings now,” he said.
He emphasised that any agreement would be for three to five years to “stabilise our current offer”. He also told the Cabinet meeting on 11 December that the council had an existing relationship with Wave and “the opportunity to move very quickly”.
Questions for the council
We asked Eastbourne Borough Council the following questions:
- Is the council going to consider the approach from Freedom Leisure before signing with Wave Leisure?
- Have any other leisure operators been approached by the council in the last few months?
- What shape will this council review take and who will undertake it?
The council issued a general statement on 17 December via Facebook and its own website , which can be read in full here. It was sent to us earlier today.
It states that it is “quite normal” to receive approaches from businesses and other organisations. It will assess these approaches based on whether or not these parties could operate the pools without being subsidised by the council.
Our question about whether the council has approached any other leisure operators in the last few months has not been addressed.
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