plans by Wiltshire Council to create a new leisure campus, which could include other council-owned facilities such as the library and the youth centre, were met with concern at the recent meeting of Westbury Area Board on Thursday 7th April.
The representative from Wiltshire Council who attended the meeting was unable to say what form a campus would take, or where it would be positioned, saying that the council wants to listen to views from residents in Westbury.
However, town councillors who were present voiced concern over the safeguard of the town’s listed Victorian swimming pool in the town centre, along with other Wiltshire Council-owned facilities saying that their removal from the town centre to a site out of town, would have a detrimental effect on the town centre and public access to these important facilities.
In December, Wiltshire Council produced a leisure review which proposed that the town should take over the management of both Westbury Swimming Pool and Leighton Recreation Centre. Now, the idea of a campus of services has been put forward.
At the area board meeting, Wiltshire Council project manager Lucy Murray-Brown said, “Essentially the principles of the leisure review remain the same, we’re still looking at the same sort of community-led management leisure facilities in Westbury, but we’re looking at this in a wider context, so we’re now looking at all our services in Westbury and seeing if there’s another way we can manage those.”
Frustrating
She added that she could not define whether a campus would take on a single building or multiple buildings. “In terms of what a campus looks like for Westbury I can’t answer that question,” she said. “I know that’s really frustrating but we can’t answer it because we need you to tell us what you think you need down here and come up with what looks right for the town.
“It’s not a one size fits all standard answer.”
However, Westbury town and Wiltshire councillor Russell Hawker warned, “One clear issue is that we are starting to lose facilities, whether going and disappearing or relocating out – like the doctors’ surgery is relocating to the edge of town and our post office is on the edge of town. We want to preserve the purpose of the town centre to keep key facilities in the town centre.”
Sue Ezra, town councillor and chair of the town centre viability working group said, “Our main priority is holding onto our town centre. Right in the middle of our town centre is our library. We have looked at maybe extending the library, bringing services into the library, putting a lift in so people can access the top.
“We have discussed the vision and scoping study for Westbury with all our partners. Also we need to keep the swimming pool where it is for the same reason, that it’s right in the centre of the town and we need to keep our town centre going for the future. You move everything out of the town centre you might as well close the High Street down, and we are trying to preserve it.”
The Vision and Scoping Study for Westbury, a joint project between Westbury Town Council, the Mid Wilts Economic Partnership and the Area Board, has recently made preserving and reviving the town centre its main priority.
The leisure initiative is part of a county-wide review by Wiltshire Council. In other towns, consultation has already taken place and plans are forging ahead for new facilities.
Wiltshire Council has already approved plans to build a new £23million campus in Melksham. Controversially, two weeks ago the Melksham Area Board approved plans to move the town centre library and youth centre out of the town centre to the campus in Bowerhill. This flew in the face of the council’s own public consultation which opposed moving the library out of the town centre
A member for Wiltshire Council in Melksham South, Jon Hubbard, says that Westbury should “Start fighting the issue now. Describing himself as an enthusiastic supporter of the new facilities which will be provided by the campus he says,“I think the campus concept is a very good concept and I’m fully supportive. The big issue is the library and youth centre enjoy a town centre location. Taking them out of the town centre not only makes them more difficult to access but particularly the library has a particular economic emphasis on the economic impact of the town centre.”
He said Westbury should “Make sure the powers that be know now, and don’t leave it too late. If the council have learnt anything from the experience in Melksham, it’s that it’s important to listen to the people of the community from the outset.”
An initial meeting to address campus plans at the Westbury Area Board is expected to take place in the autumn of 2012, with a consultation starting at a similar time. An indicative timeline indicates that the council would approve plans in the summer or autumn of 2013, and the completed campus could be up and running in the spring of 2015.
Wiltshire Council hopes the county-wide campus programme will reduce the long term financial, environmental, and operational pressures on operating ageing, low quality buildings, with a 40% reduction in operating costs.
The future of Westbury’s historic Victorian Pool was thrown into uncertainty early last year after Wiltshire Council identified an “overprovision” of swimming pools in west Wiltshire. The community demonstrated an overwhelming level of support for the pool, and in November last year the pool was granted the status of a Grade II listed building.
