Calls to reopen MEA leisure centres met with warning by chief executive over rising costs

Seven Towers Leisure Centre, Ballymena

A review of leisure centre opening hours is set to be carried out by Mid and East Antrim Borough Council after councillors called for a rethink on bank holiday closures.

Speaking at last week’s council meeting at The Braid in Ballymena, Larne Lough Alliance Councillor Maeve Donnelly proposed a motion calling for leisure facilities to open during bank holidays.

Cllr Donnelly said:

“For many of us, bank holidays are a welcome opportunity to spend quality time with our families and leisure time is so important for our wellbeing.

“Bank holidays, surely, are the most popular days to take your family out because most people are off and you want to avail of that time to use the leisure facilities that are on offer.”

Cllr Donnelly said she had been contacted by constituents frustrated that leisure facilities were closed during a recent bank holiday.

“My own family were acutely aware that our local leisure centre was closed, unfortunately. This is prime leisure time and makes no sense for our leisure centres to be closed.”

She noted that other councils either remain fully open or operate reduced hours during holidays.

“In 2023, this council approved leisure centre closures on statutory days at all three centres as part of efficiency measures, but surely this is always subject to review in light of changing trends. We need to represent good value for ratepayers.

“Bank holidays are prime leisure time and there are now multiple gyms open 24 hours a day in our area and, as a constituent recently said to me, he left the council leisure centre and ended up paying membership for a private gym as he needed to know exactly when facilities were open for his routine and mental health.

“I feel this is a common sense motion and I am delighted to see real support for this from other parties on social media recently. I am simply asking officers to bring a report back to council with options for delivering a leisure facilities offering in MEA during bank holidays.”

Seconding the motion, party colleague Larne Lough Alderman Robert Logan said:

“It is astonishing to me that we close leisure facilities on days when people are off. If we were running a proper business, we wouldn’t consider doing that.”

Braid Ulster Unionist Councillor Alan Barr said there was “no doubt” leisure facilities delivered major benefits for communities across the borough.

“They support physical health, mental wellbeing, social interaction and family life.

“For many families, particularly those with young children, bank holidays are an excellent opportunity to spend quality time together and make use of local facilities.

“Given the inclement weather associated with some of our bank holidays, getting outside and enjoying the great outdoors is not always possible. Therefore, it is good to have the leisure centres as an alternative.”

However, Cllr Barr stressed that any expansion of services must be properly costed and sustainable.

“As elected representatives, we also have a duty to ensure that any expansion of services is properly costed, sustainable and deliverable,” he said.

Cllr Barr called for a full financial impact assessment as well as a detailed examination of staffing and resource implications before any final decision is made.

“Ratepayers rightly expect this council to exercise prudence and to understand the true cost of any proposal before committing public money,” he added.

“We simply can’t make decisions based on good intentions alone. We must ensure that proposals are affordable, practical and represent value for money for the people we serve.

“I also believe this is a good opportunity to review the opening and closing times across all leisure centres within Mid and East Antrim. I am aware of different opening times across the borough and therefore a review is important because fairness and consistency matter.

“Residents in every part of our borough, whether in Ballymena, Carrickfergus, Larne or rural communities, should expect equal consideration and a broadly consistent standard of provision.

“We must avoid creating a postcode lottery where some areas receive greater access and more favourable arrangements than others.”

Carrickfergus Castle TUV Councillor David Clarke queried the rate of pay for staff working on bank holidays and emphasised the need for an informed decision based on demand, resources and cost implications, alongside community need.

“There are people in our borough who are going to other nearby boroughs and leisure centres and they are putting their money into those when they could be spending it on their doorstep,” he said.

Knockagh DUP Councillor Marc Collins said:

“Plenty of other councils across Northern Ireland can open on a bank holiday. I don’t see why we can’t follow suit.”

He also backed greater alignment of opening hours across the borough.

Knockagh Alliance Councillor Aaron Skinner said:

“We should make council services available to the public when they want them rather than us telling them when they should have them.

“I also agree with looking at the opening hours. While we are one borough and everything should broadly be the same, there are certain things where there is differing demand.”

Cllr Donnelly agreed to accept Cllr Barr’s amendment.

A council director highlighted the need for a wider “modernisation and transformation” of the authority’s leisure service by examining costs, which he described as “quite heavy”, while also driving greater income into centres.

He added that a review of the council’s operating model would be central to the process.

Carrickfergus Castle DUP Alderman Billy Ashe MBE said elected members should have direct input into any future report.

“Some of us argued against some of these cuts that were brought forward by officers before and I believe elected representatives have many years of experience of using the leisure facilities and hearing first-hand from customers, and that needs to be fed in as well — something that I don’t think was fully considered last time round,” he said.

Interim Chief Executive Valerie Watts reminded councillors of the financial pressures facing the council.

“There was a comment made — ‘if we were running this as a business’. If we were running this as a business, we wouldn’t be throwing £3 million at it to keep it open,” she said.

“Let me remind members that you agreed to £0.5 million worth of cuts to leisure to keep the rate down at 2.95 per cent, so every decision taken on the back of reports we bring forward means you are talking up your rates bill for next year.”

Carrickfergus Castle Alliance Councillor Lauren Gray responded:

“This is not all a financial thing though. People rely on our leisure services. While finances are important and absolutely should be considered, it can’t just be all about that.”

Cllr Collins also challenged the reference to the previously agreed £500,000 savings.

“I would push back slightly on the £500k comment because, if my memory of the rate-setting process is right, that was brought forward as identified efficiencies and the point was made strongly that there would be no effect on frontline services and leisure,” he said.

“So saying this chamber voted for £0.5 million of cuts to leisure is slightly misleading.”

The interim chief executive asked Cllr Collins to clarify what he meant by “efficiencies”, to which he replied:

“Unnecessary expenditure.”

Cllr Donnelly said she looked forward to seeing a future report outlining options and costings.

Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Bannside Ulster Unionist Councillor Jackson Minford, said officers would now carry out the relevant equality and financial assessments before bringing a report back to a future council meeting for a final decision.