The future of a Wokingham leisure centre could be decided next month.
Wokingham Borough Council said a ‘decline in numbers’ of users at St Crispin’s Leisure Centre led to a public consultation earlier this year.
Councillor Ian Shenton – responsible for leisure – said that whatever happens, the site ‘will be used for the benefit of the community’.
The consultation ended last month, and the council’s executive committee will consider the outcome next month.
Councillor Shenton was asked if he could reassure squash players, who say that closing St Crispin’s Leisure Centre would mean losing the only squash courts in the whole of Wokingham Borough.
Norreys councillor Phil Cunnington asked: “What reassurances can you give squash players about their future at St Crispin’s Leisure Centre?”
He said: “Can we be assured that a public facility – no matter how you decide that it will be going forward – will remain available for the breadth of users that it has at the moment?”
Councillor Shenton said squash players’ opinions would be taken into account – but said he couldn’t offer any specific assurances ahead of next month’s decision.
He said: “At this stage, no specific assurance can be provided regarding future use of the site as that would predetermine the November executive decision.
“But I can reassure the squash players that their submissions to the consultation will be fully taken into account, along with all other submissions.
“I would stress that we have placed at least as much emphasis on comments within submissions.
“Because our consultations are neither referenda nor market research studies with balanced samples, the qualitative responses are at least as important as the quantitative results.”
Wokingham Borough Council’s executive committee will make its decision on Thursday, November 30.
