Rutlands MP Alicia Kearns has taken to Facebook to express strong criticism of Rutland County Council's decision to close the Catmose Sports Centre, despite previous assurances that it would remain open.
In a scathing post, Alicia Kearns, the MP highlighted past council promises to keep the facility operational, making the recent decision even more concerning.
The Facebook post follows a public outcry after the council announced the closure. Residents have voiced their concerns about the impact on local fitness opportunities and the potential loss of a vital social hub, particularly for families and older adults.
It remains to be seen whether the council will reconsider its position in light of the public outcry and the MP's intervention. However, one thing is clear: the fight to save Catmose Sports Centre is far from over.
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Alicia Kearns MP, Facebook Post, 26th April 2024
I am “astounded” that we are “set to lose a superb local facility” in Catmose Sports Centre, and “fed up with decisions made behind closed doors”, an “appalling decision”, “come on, listen to your public!”
These aren’t my words, they are the words of the Liberal Democrats in opposition in Rutland last year.
To take us back to that time, no provider had stepped forward able to continue running Catmose Sports Centre at nil cost. The Conversative - Independent Council could find no alternative route to continue the provision without continuing to subsidise the sports centre at a bill that would shortly rise to over £1 million of council funds.
At the Local Election, the Liberal Democrats were keen to “slam (the) out of touch decision” and left residents in no doubt that if they were in power, closing Catmose Sports Centre was certainly not on the Liberal Democrat’s agenda.
In fact, the closure of Catmose was used as a direct call and reason to vote for the Liberal Democrats. Do have a look at two different leaflets and this weblink: https://www.rsllibdems.org.uk/news/article/statement-on-catmose-sports-centre
When there were reports of new potential providers for the leisure centre after the procurement decision had been made back in 2022, the then Council Leader Lucy Stephenson agreed to re-open the procurement process to see if a nil-cost provider (or one with some degree of financial risk for RCC) could be found to save the centre.
As part of this decision, Lucy enabled further funding of the centre for up to two more years. But then why did the Council bring it back for decision after a mere 12 months? How soon will it close? I hope not for the two full years previously given that the previous decision should be protected and all the groups who use Catmose need time to find alternative locations.
The 2024/25 budget presented by the current Cabinet for public consultation in January had no explicit funding allocation for leisure.
This logically means a decision had been taken privately by the new leadership that leisure provision at Catmose should be at net-nil cost to the Council. This is perfectly understandable however, this left no room for the Council to decide at their meeting last week to continue subsidising or funding Catmose in any way as zero money had been assigned to enable this decision.
We then had the Special Council meeting regarding Catmose Sports Centre, which saw Lib Dem Cabinet vote against their own recommendation – this has never happened in the history of Rutland Council.
Balancing the books is difficult – I’ve never suggested anything otherwise and nor did the previous Conservative Council.
I’ve worked so hard to try and improve the funding formula which determines the funding we receive from Government and have relentlessly campaigned to increase Government funding for our county. I helped secure a 7.7% uplift in funding for RCC earlier this year (higher than most councils), £23.7 million in Levelling Up funding, and we’ve had transport funds and beyond that bring us to almost £85 million in additional Government funding for Rutland in the last year alone for our communities in coming years (our annual budget is circa £43 million so this is substantial).
I also understand the realities of pressures and budgets. As a politician you can’t always deliver everything you promise but you must try your absolute hardest.
As a backbench MP I don’t have the power to force decisions nationally or force the council to change their mind on this locally, but I do all I can to fight to deliver my promises, and I hope I’m open about the challenges and difficulties with you all. As a Councillor or MP, you must always do everything in your power to try and deliver on your promises – especially if the decision is in your hands leading the local council.
When the new Liberal Democrats took over the running of RCC I was clear I would support the Council to the best of my ability and work cross-party, as I have done since my election in 2019, both locally and in Parliament. We all know through realities of politics, and how horrid it can be, but I hope that I did not demonstrate this during the locals or the 2019 general election.
What I object to is that during the local elections residents were ultimately misled, and attacks landed, despite candidates knowing the realities that providers at nil-cost had not stepped forward to run Catmose, and since then no serious efforts have been made to keep Catmose open.
My Opinion: All very true, Gale Waller's team has let us down. We must not forget that if there hadn't been a public outcry, the Conservatives would have also closed it. The big question is what happened to the plans for the new swimming pool the Conservatives promised us back in 2012, yes? Sports and other activities have long been on the council's agenda ever since I've lived in Oakham. It was wrong of Gale's team to make promises. Let's not forget it was the Conservatives who mishandled the Hawkshead 106 contributions of £1.88 million and lost Oakham North its promised community hub. The Conservative kept that a secret until after the 2015 local election I wonder why?
It seems no matter what political party runs Rutland County Council, it has always been inadequate. More than ten years ago there were huge staff cuts. Now the staffing levels are back to the same level. The council outsources nearly everything to other local authorities, leaving it with little responsibility these days. All schools have left their control. All the care homes are privately owned. We have many more homes, yet we still pay the highest council tax in England. Why?
