LETTER: Leisure centre

In last week’s Gazette (Thursday, June 11) councillor Paul Dendle writes at length on the subject of the anticipated new leisure centre in Littlehampton, but fails to answer the central allegation.
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Why did Arun District Council ask spin doctors Bell Pottinger, in 2014, for advice on a communications strategy to move the swimming pool from the seafront to Daisyfields/Cornfield?

For readers information, Daisyfields is the only camping site in Littlehampton attracting tourists here, and the land behind it is used by hundreds of people for outdoor recreation and dog walking.

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The current sports and swimming centre is situated in a leisure zone with Mewsbrook Park on one side, the seafront on the other – good parking and easy access.

No wonder thousands of people have signed a petition to have the location of the new one on this same site.

It does need improved public transport provision, but there are ideas for this.

I look forward to the detailed studies into location being published in full and debated.

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Finally, it seems to have become fashionable for the Arun leadership to accuse councillors who speak out on issues of suffering from the strange disease of ‘pre-determination’.

The cure it appears seems to be that those diagnosed have to read out a pre-prepared statement at a Full Council meeting declaring that they are capable of reading all the evidence relating to an issue and making up their minds on the information available at the time, despite any statements which may have been made before.

This is all old hat as Tony Dixon so ably explained in his letter the other week.

The localism act makes it clear that it is proper for councillors to play an active part in local discussions, and that they should not be liable to legal challenge as a result.

Councillor Derrick Chester

Cornfield ward

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