Forums Forums Local News Woodchurch Leisure centre and libraries?

There's a lot on my local Facebook about the Council possibly closing Woodchurch Leisure Centre, which they have neglected for some time, on the grounds that it was under-used, which is a bit of a cheek considering the state they let it get into, the pandemic etc.There was also - somewhere - a mention of another threat to Wirral's library provision looming. Does anyone know about this and can share links etc, please?

Libraries, leisure centres, golf courses and public loos.
"However, they are not set in stone yet and will go through several committees where they can be changed or scrapped altogether"
https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/19836910.devastated-plans-close-much-loved-wirral-services/

Council will have to do whatever the Government tell them to do. In the last 10 years Wirral has lost £220m from its budget from the Government.

Basically the Government wanted libraries, leisure centres etc closed 10 years ago and the Council quite rightly have tried to resist this.

The Council underfunding is so bad that even the Government agreed Wirral Council had to borrow extra money last year but there can be no long term plan other than to shut off services. "The CIPFA report says the council's claim for exceptional financial support from government is 'reasonable and necessary'"

Already numerous services are bolstered by volunteers and donated finance - the public has to realise the level of theft that successive right wing Governments have performed.

Don't forget to add park maintenance on the list, that is also under threat - something else the voluntary sector will have to take over.

Where I do disagree with the Council is the high paid executives of the Council, big money does not automatically get you better quality and contracts with severance bonuses should be banned.

Thanks for the feedback folks - I've found out a bit more about which libraries are for the chop. The proposed option to be discussed on Monday is as follows:
Libraries staying open and staffed: Birkenhead and Wallasey Central, West Kirby, Bebington, Eastham, Moreton, Upton, Heswall.
Libraries in shared premises operating on a self-serve basis: Leasowe, Beechwood, Ridgeway, St. James, Seacombe.
Libraries threatened with closure:Bromborough, Greasby, Higher Bebington, Hoylake, Irby, New Ferry, Pensby, Prenton, Rock Ferry, Wallasey Village, Woodchurch.

I agree that the Council is between a rock and a hard place, financially, partly (and only partly!) through no fault of its own. It is nevertheless important for people to strive to retain what is important to their local communities. Personally I'd rather have some rewilding in parks and verges full of wild flowers than no library.

Having lived on Wirral for 10 years before returning to north Devon 5 years ago, I always felt you guys didn't realise how lucky you were with facilities. North Devon is around 10 times bigger than Wirral and has:
2 x recycling centres
3 x local authority leisure centres

Currently 6 x libraries against Wirral has 23. I'm sure you don't feel it but you really are a lot better off than you may think

That's true, everything's relative! Your area is a lot bigger but sparsely populated in parts, Exmoor for example. How does provision work out per head of population? Wirral's population as far as I can discover is 322,796 (ish).

Wirral (Borough) has over three times the population of North Devon (District) so proportioning your figures Wirral should have at least

6 recycling centres but we only have 3
9 leisure centres but we only have 6
18 libraries but we only have 16 (some opening as little as two days a week, I think only three are full-time(?) - not sure where you got 23 from, maybe peninsula?)

However,as you say, North Devon has a lot more area, it is about four times bigger than Wirral so you would expect it to need proportionally more facilities so those stats could be seen to be a balance.

Thanks for doing the Maths, that was beyond me!