Rutland County Council makes decision on future of Catmose Sports Centre in Oakham behind closed doors

The future of a sports centre in Oakham still hangs in the balance following a council meeting.

Rutland County Council debated behind closed doors (Monday, March 25) on whether or not to sign a new lease for Catmose Sports Centre with a leisure operator.

If they decide not to, the council will look to surrender its lease of the facilities with Catmose College and public access will end.

They will not announce their final decision for at least a week, possibly two, after all the bidders have been notified.

Prior to going into closed session to discuss "commercially sensitive information", several councillors expressed their concerns at the potential loss of a facility that provides physical activity and the community benefits associated with that.

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Coun Tracy Carr (Ind) said: “While there is no statutory requirement to provide sports and leisure services, the evidence and data for physical activity are compelling… and with Rutlanders showing a higher than average number of muscular-skeletal issues – these being the second most common reasons for absences from work – there is no doubt that to grow the economy we need a healthy workforce.”

Coun Lucy Stephenson (Con) added: “Residents are passionate about the Catmose Sports Centre – I know this from the letters, emails, social media posts and the urge to have a public meeting when as leader of the last administration we called for its closure last year.

“This evening we are asked to debate what is a very difficult and complex decision, and I feel particularly sorry for Oakham town councillors who, relatively fresh from an election and the promises they made to residents, now find themselves, as we do, having to decide the future of a much loved facility, while balancing the need to consider funding, balancing the books, living within our means and protecting the most vulnerable among us.”

She went on to say: “The process in which this decision has been taken in private closed session, as it was in January 2023, is captured very well in the Liberal Democrats press release which says: ‘Residents are fed up with decisions being made behind closed doors’; this council has to decide whether to just deliver statutory requirements while balancing other considerations such as the positive impacts of health and wellbeing, community groups. I feel it is especially pertinent to Rutland, in a rural context, as access to amenities like this is not the same as those available to our urban counterparts.”

Before the public and press were excluded from the meeting, Coun Ramsay Ross (Lab) said: “The original intention of this council when formed in 2005 was the creation of a sports and leisure centre, and under the ‘big build’ of 2007 the principle of a community centre and a new school was established, opening in 2009.

“However, the impact of the academisation process instigated by the Tory government in 2011, saw the transfer of all land and community assets to the newly established Catmose Academy Trust, and successive Rutland MPs have done nothing to secure restitution for Rutland residents for the loss of those assets.

“We must also consider the true availability and accessibility of alternative facilities, which has been highlighted to us by our constituents, some of whom have physical and mental health issues, and point out the ease of access to Catmose and the availability of group classes.”

Campaigners battled to save the sports centre when the council’s contract with Stevenage Leisure Ltd ended on March 31, 2023.

The covid pandemic and the ongoing energy crisis had forced the council to provide Catmose Sports Centre with significant financial support over the past three years.

It was agreed last March that services would continue to be funded up to March 31, 2025, provided a new model could be found, a key requirement of which was that any future contract was that the centre runs at no cost to either Rutland County Council or Catmose College, which owns the buildings.

The council says it can no longer afford this over an indefinite period. It has spent £801,807 keeping the centre afloat during the last four years.