The reasons behind Southampton City Council's decision last month to shut and potentially sell off St Mary’s Leisure Centre will come under further scrutiny at a meeting next Thursday (March 10). Photo: Google Maps
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As reported, the controversial decision by the Conservative-led council’s cabinet was made on February 21.
It followed a community campaign to keep the listed building open as a leisure centre, and a consultation exercise that saw 86% reporting a negative impact of a “discontinuation of services”.
The council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (OSMC) provides an opportunity for opposition councillors to further scrutinise the reasons behind decisions made by the administration.
The notice for the meeting [pdf] gives the reasons for “calling in” the decision as follows [quoted from the pdf]:
- Cabinet have not given due consideration to the response to the consultation
- Suitable alternatives have not been identified to St Mary’s Leisure Centre for the community to utilise
- There is a lack of clarity with regards to the future usage of St Mary’s Leisure Centre and how any capital receipt would be utilised to benefit the local community.
Like most council meetings nowadays, the OSMC meeting is due to be streamed online.