Plas Madoc Leisure Centre Could Be Offered Lifeline

Plas Madoc Leisure Centre could be offered a lifeline as proposals are put forward to keep the centre open until summer.

In a revised report due to go before the Executive Board on Tuesday it is recommended that Councillors defer the closure of the centre and allow more time to explore any possible Trust models for Plas Madoc.

If the recommendation is passed, Plas Madoc would remain open with reduced opening hours to mitigate costs until July 1st 2014.

Within the report is is also recommended that Councillors postpone the demoltion until after October 1st in the event of responsibility for transfer of management of the centre not taking place before this.

This new report comes a week after a ‘Call In’ meeting was held to review the decision to close Plas Madoc.

The meeting was called in after  Cllr David Taylor, Cllr William Baldwin, Cllr John Pritchard, Cllr Ronnie Prince, Cllr Arfon Jones and Cllr Pat Jeffares submitted a completed ‘Notice of Call In’.

Over the course of the meeting Cllr Taylor presented 14 points regarding the reasons for the Call In to the Committee.

These included schools being left out of the consultation, health implications, the financial savings and lack of input from partners.

During the meeting the Scrutiny Committee voted unanimously in favour of sending the decision to close Plas Madoc Leisure Centre back to the Executive Board after Councillors agreed more time and consideration was required in finding a Leisure Trust that could operate the centre.

The ‘Call In’ meeting itself was quite heated at times and was well attended by supporters and users of Plas Madoc.

Hours after the Call In took place, the Full Council approved the draft budget of £227,333,60.

It was also the first Council meeting that Wrexham.com was allowed to film. You can view the full report here and watch our Council TV here.

The Executive Board report can be found on the Council’s website here.