A CAMPAIGN group is demanding an investigation into a council’s alleged “failure” to provide a proper leisure strategy for a Forest community.
Five Acres Not for Sale (FANS) claims “the public has been betrayed” over previous council leaders’ promises to develop and improve public services at the Berry Hill-based leisure centre, with “no progress over the past six years”.
The criticism comes after council proposals to demolish and later develop the site, when Gloucestershire College move to the new Northern Quarter Campus in Cinderford later this year, were withdrawn for further consideration.
The plans under review by the current Forest council coalition Cabinet include raising funding to create a state-of-the-art community hub, saving on six-figure rates bills by pulling down the existing buildings.
Speakers at a public meeting organised by FANS last week criticised what they called a “chronic dereliction of duty” by the council’s former Conservative-led Cabinet.
FANS chairman Jamie Elsmore claimed the previous Cabinet appeared to have “ignored the recommendations of its own investigators” to provide community facilities, and the needs of residents who paid Council Tax for services that had been allowed to disintegrate.
But current Conservative group leader Cllr Brian Robinson has hit back, saying the meeting was not given a “balanced picture” and any strategy to develop the site had been dependent on the college making its intentions clear, which only happened last year.
FANS claims action is way overdue, and with residents now facing the prospect of no community leisure facilities for perhaps years if the site is cleared, is demanding that the Forest’s scrutiny committee launch a full investigation.
It claims there has been “wilful neglect in the face of the council’s own recommendations” in 2012 to instigate a leisure strategy and an impact assessment.
“Lip service” had been paid to community concerns, while new housing was pursued “as the only option” by the previous Cabinet, led by Cllr Patrick Molyneux (Con, Woolaston and Hewelsfield), added the group.
Mr Elsmore said: “It is quite clear from studying the papers that when questioned about the college’s move to the Cinderford Northern Quarter, Cllr Molyneux and Cllr Brian Robinson [former deputy leader] were bullish – convinced it would happen.
“However, when it came to the question of the future of Five Acres, they hid behind what they described as uncertainly over the future of the college. It was all a double bluff.”
It claimed Cllr Robinson had promised a leisure strategy when management rights were signed over to Freedom Leisure in 2015, which hadn’t appeared.
An equalities and community impact assessment would also have provided evidence of how many children at Berry Hill Primary and other schools relied on the pool, and how many people relied on the athletics, football, rugby and other sports clubs.
The meeting last Thursday (April 5) at Berry Hill Rugby Club included a Q&A session with current council leader and Berry Hill ward member Cllr Tim Gwilliam and Forest First colleague Cllr Roger James (Coleford East), who have backed FANS in the past.
Cllr Gwilliam said the current Cabinet had now commissioned a leisure strategy and highlighted the legal requirement for an impact assessment.
“But many years of potential planning and funding have been lost, which puts us on the back foot,” he added, while council budget spokesman Cllr James warned about the state of the council’s coffers and said business rates on the site would be £172,000 by 2019.
Cllr Robinson hit back this week, saying that since taking over last July, the independent coalition had “failed to agree land transfer terms with [site owners] the Homes and Communities Agency, failed to progress plans for a new leisure centre and failed to make provision to cover running costs for 2018/2019 at Five Acres in their February budget.”
“Subsequently they have brought forward Cabinet proposals to demolish Five Acres and then withdrawn their own plans. Clearly after almost a year in charge they remain unsure what to do.
“Conservatives would welcome the opportunity to deliver better leisure facilities in the Forest and have expressed concern over the confusion that is currently evident. We have requested a Scrutiny review of leisure services that will allow council members to give the Cabinet some guidance.”