Council Meeting, Jan 8 2007- Leisure Centre
January 9th, 2007Last night’s council meeting saw us once again discussing the issue of the Leisure Centre on the High Road, and whether or not it can remain open once we open the new Leisure Complex at Sallaghagraine.
Cllr Jimmy Harte put forward the motion “That this council retain the Leisure Centre at the High Road”. This motion was horribly flawed. Cllr Harte had no proposals on how we would address the major issues that this would raise, including:
- Replacement funding for new centre (E2Million budgetted from the sale of the High Road site towards cost of new facility)
- Funding for upgrade of old centre (Conservative estimate of E2Million to replace plant and machinery, and refurbish building and changing facilities)
- Ongoing Operational Funding for High Road site- currently requiring E120,000 per year while operating at almost full capacity.
- Impact of new centre on operation of old centre The loss of trade at the old Centre, when the new centre opens with much more facilities available
- Impact of old centre on new centre What impact would the old centre have on the operation of the new centre, if it kept a proportion of the trade intended to use the new centre?
This is an issue that I take very seriously. Over Christmas and New Year, I made contact with Councillors all around the country to discuss their provision of Leisure facilities, and their experience with pools. Some of what I found was surprising, in particular the towns which are without pools. Others had very poor provision of parks and outdoor areas.
I focussed on towns which either had a similar size population to Letterkenny, or where larger but with similar local authority structures. I found no town with two pools, including towns up to twice the size of Letterkenny. When I told other Councillors about the Centre we are building, on top of our existing leisure amenities and the new 20 acre Town Park, most were very surprised that a Council of our size could put together such a project.
I am aware, however, that Letterkenny shouldn’t just be aiming for the lowest measure; if that were the way, we’d never have seen the massive development in the town in recent years. For that reason, I have given my commitment from the outset that I would consider any proposal that would show how we can open both centres. That hasn’t changed. Last night, I proposed an amendment that will see the Council re-assess our land holdings, with a view to keeping the site at the High Road in Council posession. Had Cllr Harte’s motion been voted on and failed (as it likely would have), the door would have been closed for the High Road Centre (once a motion is voted on, it cannot easily be re-opened within 6 months). My amendment meant that, should an option arise which could see the two centres operate side-by-side, the Council can now consider that.
Is it possible to run both centres? I don’t believe so. There are huge obstacles to be overcome in all this. Financially, it would take finding between E4 and E5 million for the Council to be in a position to retain ownership of the site at the High Road and bring the Centre up to a workable standard. We would then have to address the ongoing operational costs. While the Centre required a subsidy of E120,000 last year, it should be rememberd that this is for the centre operating at near-capacity. In total, it took about E750,000 to run the High Road Centre last year. This would be (at least) the same in any future full year. When the new Centre opens, it seems obvious that revenues would drop at the High Road, leaving it requiring more of a subsidy. I’ve always supported funding for Leisure and Recreational facilities in the Town, but if we increase the money going into the High Road then that is money that will have to be diverted from other projects (such as developing our second Town Park).
This would also impact the operation of the New Centre; by splitting the usage between two sites, we limit the efficiency of both sites and mean that the New Centre would also require financial support. This would mean massive amounts of money being diverted from other programmes and other projects to support two swimming pools; I don’t believe this is feasible for the Council.
It’s important to remember who’s money we’re talking about. It’s tax-payers’ money, whether through Central Government funds and local Commercial Rates. For example, should we require a subvention of E450,000 to run two centres together, we would need to put up rates by a further 10%. We work hard on every fraction of a percent in the rates; this year, the Chamber of Commerce has expressed their annoyance that the Council has increased rates by 4% instead of the 3.5% they sought.
In my term as Mayor I was widely criticised for sticking tightly to the budget and opposing Cllr Dessie Larkin’s unfunded proposal to grant E10,000 to the Letterkenny Comedy Festival. I take my responsibility as a Councillor to ensure the proper financial operation of the Council very seriously. In that case, I went through every line of the budget to introduce a new proposal, with full financial backing, to ensure the festival received the E10,000. That’s what we need now; if there is any way that can be found to operate both centres, we’ll consider those proposals. As yet, nobody has brought such proposals forward.
In the Debate, and on Highland Radio, Cllr Dessie Larkin commented that he felt that Cllr Jimmy Harte has only begun to oppose closing the Centre as the General Election approaches (Cllr Harte is standing as an Independent candidate). This is true; we have met on a number of occasions to discuss the new centre. At our meeting in October, I raised queries about the retention of the old centre, as did Cllr Gerry McMonagle and Cllr Neil Clarke. Cllr Harte did not. When he entered this motion in November, he left the meeting for other reasons before it was raised and refused to return- I even left the meeting to phone him to ask him to put the motion forward, but he refused. When the issue was discussed at the Budget meeting in December, Cllr Harte was not present. I’m not saying this to get at him; but these are the facts.
When the proposals were initially put forward, in the term of the last council, the only member to speak out against closing the Centre was Cllr Ciaran Brogan. I have great respect for his position on this; he accepted the will of the Council at that time, and worked tirelessly with Dr James McDaid to ensure that the funding was secured to deliver what will be the finest sporting facility opened anywhere in Ireland this year.
I welcome any comments that you have to make on this subject. I ask that you make them on the original post to keep debate together. To be clear, I would be delighted to see the centre kept open, but I don’t see how it is possible. If you have any suggestions, please get in touch.