Plans to close St Crispin’s Leisure Centre to provide much-needed additional secondary school places have been thrown into disarray.
A meeting of Wokingham Borough Council’s overview and scrutiny committee on Tuesday night asked for a rethink, saying a report it was asked to approve to be presented to the council’s ruling executive failed to provide enough information.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen, leader of the Conservative group, said there was a failure to consider the outcome of a consultation earlier this year which showed that respondents did not support the proposal to hand the leisure centre over to St Crispin’s school.
The meeting heard the council is facing significant pressure on secondary school places.
The report noted: “There is an opportunity to expand St Crispin’s School which, if not taken, it is likely that there will be a shortfall of places in September 2024.
It said that school place sufficiency forecasting for Wokingham indicates that the Borough has a total shortage of 1,045 Year 7 places at secondary schools during the next five academic years.
“The ability to secure an additional 55 school places each of next five years from St Crispin’s School would contribute positively, as a value for money option, to achieving the optimum level of sufficiency in secondary school places.
“Failing to secure these extra school places would lead to the need to explore other significantly more costly school expansion options, availability of which are very limited and would not be value for money in a small borough.”
St Crispin’s Leisure Centre is operated by Places Leisure under contract to Wokingham Borough Council.
It has seen a 26% reduction in footfall since reopening post pandemic, with a particularly reduction in footfall in the over-60s demographic.
The new Wokingham Leisure Centre at the Carnival Hub opened in July 2022, and also is operated by Places Leisure. It has continued to draw customers away from St Crispin’s.
Councillors expressed confusion as to why the authority needed to give the leisure centre on to the school on a long lease, and also shared concerns that residents’ use of the facilities would not be maintained.
Conservative and Labour councillors supported Cllr Jorgensen’s proposal.
Conservative councillors were critical of the lack of detail and clarity in the report, as well as the inclusion of options and information that were not in the public consultation.
The Liberal Democrat-controlled Executive will now be required to re-write their report and return to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on November 28 to present the paper again, prior to the next executive meeting two days later.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen said: “I’m pleased that Conservative and Labour councillors joined together to support my proposal that the Liberal Democrat executive be made to go away and re-think this report.
“The paper was appalling. It’s embarrassing that the administration is looking to remove an asset from community use based on a poorly written report with so much confusion and a lack of information and so little protection for the taxpayer.
“They couldn’t even give us financial information when pressed.
“What the Liberal Democrats are proposing isn’t viable, and involves an option of simply giving the school a leisure centre when alternatives haven’t been properly thought through.
“I hope the administration takes this opportunity to have a serious re-think about this proposal.”
Cllr Stephen Conway, leader of the council, stressed the decision to obtain more information will lead to a better, more-informed outcome.
He said: “Overview and scrutiny is part of our decision-making process, and has a very meaningful role.
“I’m not unhappy with this decision.”
