Job losses on cards at Six Villages centre

The cost-cutting measure will see just three of the employees remain at the community facility.

The job losses are being considered after no-one answered a request for

voluntary redundancies.

Opening hours for villagers at the Lime Avenue centre could also be cut in another bid to reduce running costs.

An individual with links to the centre, who asked not to be named, said: "At the rate things are going, we will end up as little more than a gym for the community to use."

The 1.5m centre was opened in January 2001 with 900,000 of National Lottery funding to bring sports facilities to the rural villages.

It complemented the Westergate Community School, which had opened the previous January.

Its facilities consist of a main hall and the Dimensions gym.

Under the cost-cutting plans, it is believed the hall could be open to the public only from 4pm-11pm weekdays and 9am-6pm at weekends. The gym will stay open from 8am-10pm.

Barnham resident, and loyal gym user for nine years, Julie Taylor said she and many others feared for the sports centre.

"There's a supportive community who use that gym and look after each other," she said.

"It's quite a social outing for them as well as everything else.

"It would be difficult for them to go anywhere else."

She said badminton and trampolining sessions had gone from the centre as its list of activities was wound down.

"That's why it is not making money," she claimed.

The centre is run on the county council's behalf by the school's board of governors.

Walberton parish councillor Mark Roddham said: "This is a worrying time for everyone interested in the sports centre.

"It is also a concern that, if there are not qualified instructors, the GP referral scheme will have to go.

"Anyone in a rural area like this, with the problems of transport and isolation, will have real problems going elsewhere.

"That seems to run counter to local and national policy to keep people active for as long as possible."

There's enough business - but they're taking the easy option

Mother-of-two Tracy Fisher has condemned the closure of the Gators after-school club at the centre.

Both her children have attended the club Mondays to Fridays for many years. Her youngest, Jade Fisher, eight, enjoyed her last session there on Tuesday.

She was picked up from Aldingbourne Primary School at 3.15pm each weekday and Mrs Fisher collected her from the centre about 5.30pm before the club closed at 6pm.

Barnham resident and full-time teacher Mrs Fisher said: "The closure of the club will have a massive impact on myself and Jade.

There is nowhere else in the area which gives the same service as picking the children up from their school and taking them to the leisure centre.

"But there has been no effort put into trying to develop the club in recent years.

"There didn't seem to be anyone with responsibility for it. There's definitely the business for it out there but they have just decided to take the easy option and close the club."

The loss of the club was so serious for Mrs Fisher she was considering moving Jade from Aldingbourne Primary School to a school closer to her work in Chichester.

But the efforts of school head Liz Webster means Jade has something to do immediately after school until 4pm.

Mrs Fisher, however, is still unable to make plans about what would happen between then and the end of her working day.

Her attempts to find a childminder around the villages have failed because they are all fully subscribed.

Changes defended

Westergate Community School head Steve Nelmes has defended the proposed changes as vital to ensure the sports centre's future.

"If we didn't make any changes, there's a real risk of the closure of the centre because we can't keep on running it at a loss," he said. "We are absolutely determined to see the centre stay open.

"We have suffered due to the recession, like many local businesses, and as a non-subsidised provision we have needed to rationalise some areas of provision."

Consultation is taking place about a new business plan and structural reorganisation to make sure popular services, such as the 650-member gym, continue. This consultation should finish by the end of August. It is designed to ensure a prudent financial future.

The centre cost several hundreds of thousands of pounds a year to run,

explained Mr Nelmes.

No job losses had yet been decided, he stated. The future provision of most services at the centre was still to be finalised as well.

But the after-school club would close in September. Mr Nelmes said: "During this summer, the holiday club is being run in

conjunction with Inspire Leisure."

What do you think? Click here to send a letter to [email protected] or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news

Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news

Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP