Please rethink leisure centre changes (From Witney Gazette)

Please rethink leisure centre changes

10:00am Wednesday 26th September 2012 in Letters

Sir – I was disappointed to learn of the proposed plans to remove two squash courts at the Windrush Leisure Centre in Witney.

As well as squash, these courts are also used for other minority sports such as racquetball, table tennis and fencing.

I believe this decision was made by West Oxfordshire District Council in conjunction with its leisure contractor, GLL Nexus, without any consultation or notification to centre members.

Upon querying this decision, I was informed by the council that the current upstairs gym needs to be moved to the ground floor so people with mobility issues do not need to use the lift.

On inspection, the current lift is located next to what appears to be the upstairs gym’s fire door, which I believe is left permanently locked.

Common sense would dictate that unlocking the fire door and providing access through this door would be the best way to proceed.

As such, I would call upon the district council to postpone this work to allow proper consultation to take place between all parties. The money could be better spent improving changing facilities or car parking.

It is a great shame that the council and GLL are not prepared to listen to the thoughts of paying centre members.

Kearse Simpson, Idbury Close, Witney