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Leisure campaigners stage sit in

9:00am Monday 2nd April 2007

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A sit-in protest took place at Calne's White Horse Leisure Centre in the final hours before its closure.

The facility is one of six run by a trust which has now gone into liquidation.

Solutions were found for the other five centres, but North Wiltshire District Council said there was not enough money to keep Calne's open to the public.

The sit-in, in the foyer and sports hall of the centre, began at 7.30pm on Saturday.

Ann James, who is registered disabled and swims four times a week at the Whitehorse centre, said: "It's desperate, the people of Calne and its outlying villages will have no public access to leisure facilties.

"What we're trying to do is let North Wiltshire District Council know that people in the area can't be treated as second class citizens.

"We all pay our council tax and it's the only centre in this area with disabled access."

The council has agreed to allow the 1,200 pupils of neighbouring John Bentley school to continue using the centre's "dryside facilities".

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Your Say YourThe Wiltshire Gazette and Herald

angie easton, calne says...
5:05pm Fri 6 Apr 07

well done to everybody who attended the sit in. Its all gone rather quiet out there! Ive been checking this web site to find out if Athene leisure have put another bid in, to hopefully secure the future of the white horse leisure centre.....does anybody know anything yet? It seems, now that Calne Sports Centre has closed, everyone seems to have forgotten about it already.....? I know its Easter and people are on holiday, but my daughters & I miss it terribly, and just want it back!!!! I have writen yet again to NWDC, still no reply!

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Elaine King, Calne says...
9:36am Sun 8 Apr 07

Hi Angie Easton, No I'm sure people have'nt forgotten about our leisure centre, they are just waiting with bated breath to hopefully hear the news that Athena Leisure have succeeded in their bid to take over the centre.
I was hoping that Mick Devonport would have had something to report to us by now.
In the 'Progress Statement by Athena Leisure' of the 30th March which was handed out to us at the 'sit-in' it states, and I quote, "Consequently, we will make a BEST GUESS COMMITMENT that WITHIN THE NEXT FOUR WORKING DAYS WE WILL MAKE A FORMAL OFFER TO NWDC TO TAKE OVER THE CENTRE providing that we have been able to gain the information that is fundamental to our decision making. Once we have completed the legal formalities we will work with Jill and Mick to mobilise the support of the people of Calne and begin our change plan for the centre.
At such time we take over the centre, all of the EXISTING STAFF WILL BE INVITED TO JOIN THE NEW TEAM AT THE CENTRE".
So do we assume from the silence out there, Mick, that Athena's offer has been rejected or is it a question of 'no news is good news'?
Can someone update us please?

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Mick Devonport, Calne says...
3:53pm Sun 8 Apr 07

Thanks for the two postings above.

Dispite the apparent silence, we have in fact been very busy dealing with a couple of 'non-budget' related issues which I will explain later in this message.

The most important news is that Athena are still working on the detail of their offer and this will be completed in time to make the Tuesday 11.00am deadline set by CTC which gives them the opportunity to deal with the paperwork in readiness for the Council Meeting on 16th April.

We have also talked to NWDC to work out the process for making the same plan available to them on Tuesday.

Do remember we are not talking peanuts here. The amounts of money involved is huge and Athena are putting their neck on the line so they need to get things right.

As for the other matters: I received information that DC Leisure were removing sports equipment from our Centre.

I checked this with NWDC and they have assured us that providing the plan is agreed the equipment can be returned. The fitnesss kit was on lease and was returned to its owners.

I was also told that the circulation pumps for the pool have been turned off. I also checked this with NWDC who have assured me that they have checked with their insurer to determine the level of operation that needs to be retained to keep the pool equipment from breakdown. They have said that their technical experts have assured them that no permanent damage will occur as a result of this action.

I have reminded them that they gave us an extention of two months before the pool would be decommissioned and that we expect it to be kept in good order during that time. We have made no provision in our plan to fix equipment that the council have let fall into disrepare.

The meeting with the CTC is crucial on the 16th so if you feel that by communicating with your town councilor asking for their support will help, now would be a good time to do it .

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Julie Lovelock, Calne says...
5:39pm Sun 8 Apr 07

Its good to hear that Athena Leisure are still actively working on their plan - I was beginning to think that they had to give up. There is a website that has been set up tp try and keep us informed of developments and you can find this on www.calne-leisure@vectisjon.com - there is also a sample letter there that you can download to send to your local town councillor in time for the meeting on 16th April.

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Elaine King, Calne says...
8:42pm Sun 8 Apr 07

Hello Julie, Thankyou for your input above. I have not been able to log onto the website www.calne-leisure@vectisjon.com can you check it out and let me know if I'm not entering it correctly as I think this will be a valuable tool in our quest (sounds like a case for the knight's of the round table!!)
Look forward to getting your reply.
Regards.

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Athena supporter, calne says...
1:14am Mon 9 Apr 07

i too cant log onto www.calne-leisure@vectisjon.com,thought it was only me but clearly others are having problems. i cant thank athena enough for sticking with us even though the council have made it hard for them. well done and good luck-we're all behind you!!

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FC, Calne says...
11:13am Mon 9 Apr 07

Hi
The link is
www.calne-leisure.vectisjon.com/

Hope there's good news for the town soon.

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centre update, calne says...
1:43pm Mon 9 Apr 07

i went up the sports centre the other day just to see what has happened to it and as expected all the windows were boarded up but i did think it was strange that only downstairs windows were boarded up and not the upstairs especially coz its flat roof and what i surprise it is that last night the upstairs windows were smashed in.why did the council only board up downstairs?!?!the centre is now in a very sad state!

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Vectisjon, Calne says...
2:00pm Mon 9 Apr 07

Confriming the web site address is www.calne-leisure.vectisjon.com
If you have any updates that can be added, leave a message on the site.

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angie easton, calne says...
11:16am Tue 10 Apr 07

Thanks to all above, for your comments, have just gone on web site : www.calne-leisure.vectisjon.com. and downloaded posters for the house & car!

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angie easton, calne says...
3:44pm Tue 10 Apr 07

I am sick to death of watching our council funds spent in such a crazy way! I have watched 3 men Dig for aprox 5 days, the roundabout at the end of my road (near the sports centre) ready for planting! wouldn't it be more cost effective to just grass it, once and for all?
Now the council are jet washing the paving slabs in the town! the man hours alone......let alone the amount of water being wasted!
STOP WASTING ALL THIS MONEY & GIVE US BACK OUR SPORTS CENTRE.

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Elaine King, Calne says...
5:28pm Tue 10 Apr 07

Oh well said, Angie Easton how I agree with you!. The Calne council now want to remove all kerb edgings and ornaments from graves in Calne cemetery and put the whole place down to grass so that they can just mow straight over everyone that's buried there. Why don't they grass the roundabouts as you suggest which would save a considerable amount in plants and man hours.

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Julie Lovelock, Calne says...
6:38pm Tue 10 Apr 07

This is a facetious comment and its not meant to upset anyone - my Mum is buried in the town cemetary. It just struck me that this had to be said - why don't they bury people in the roundabouts, grass it over and they've sorted several things at once!

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Athena supporter, calne says...
6:46pm Tue 10 Apr 07

does anyone know what happened today when athena handed in another plan?did the council reject it again?

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Anthony Clifford, lacock says...
9:20pm Tue 10 Apr 07

Repeat of above. Is there any news of what has happened today?

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M Devonport, Calne says...
10:18pm Tue 10 Apr 07

UPDATE

The Business Plan was handed in to CTC ahead of the deadline. A copy of the plan will be hand delivered to NWDC later this week.

I am away on business at the moment but can someone update me on the smashed windows issue.

Thanks for all of the support from everyone in the town

Mick

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Mike, Calne says...
10:53pm Tue 10 Apr 07

Hi mick its mike, ive met you a few times at the centre. i put the comment on here about the windows being smashed.as i wrote in the message i was amazed to go up there and find only the downstairs boarded up, i got a text from a friend yesterday who said there had been a window smashed so i went up to have a look and take a photo, one of the big windows were completely smashed in, im not sure if anyone went inside or not.someone i know went up there last night to check the building and apparently the front downstairs windows were boarded up on the outside, round the back of the building (the activity room) wasnt boarded up at all and the swimming pool windows were boarded up on the inside.the police were called yesterday and they said they would deal with it. havent been up there today but nothing had changed last night.i would have thought they would board it up asap as if kids get in there it would be very dangerous.i'll have a look tomorrow and let you know via this site

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Brian Heath, Calne says...
11:02am Wed 11 Apr 07

Thanks to all of the above for their comments - I've been out of circulation for over a week, and I'm relieved to see that things are still moving. But how typical of NWDC that they should have made only a token attempt to board up, protect and maintain our Centre! It's perfectly clear that they are going to spend as little as possible now, so as to maximise their eventual profit when they sell the Centre for demolition and redevelopment.

As for the work on the roundabouts etc., there is no doubting that they look very attractive once the planting is done and the flowers appear, and I'm not sure that grassing them over would look as good, even with regular mowing. However I do agree that when read in conjunction with the Town Council's ballsed-up approach to the question of the borders around graves at the cemetery iet is quite clear that they have their priorities all wrong when it comes to spending our money. I will have a look at the 'vectisjon' web site and make sure my Town Councillor is aware of my views ahead of next Monday's meeting. By the way, does anyone know if the 15-minute public presentation session ahead of the meeting is being extended again? Given that Mayor Viner has promised time for the Graves issue at this meeting, and also that there will be crucial matters regarding the White Horse Centre to be discussed, I would have thought an hour would just about do! What about it, Mr Mayor?

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Mike, calne says...
7:47pm Wed 11 Apr 07

hi mick, been up the sports centre and it is exactly the same as the other day but the smashed window has been boarded.thanks for the updates

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Calne resident, Calne says...
4:41pm Thu 12 Apr 07

Please all wake up! It costs too much money to run the current sports centre, the plant room is old and the boilers are still run on oil. Why not use you energy on a worthwhile case which is campaigning and fundraising for a new sports centre that has more chance of running at a profit. It will cost a small fortune to open WHLC again and as a town resident I am not happy with the potential of my taxes being spent on this

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Julie Lovelock, Calne says...
5:04pm Thu 12 Apr 07

Just a quick reply to the 'Calne Resident's' comment above:- yes a worthwhile sentiment that it would be best long term to build a new centre and that is what Athena Leisure are planning to do if NWDC allow them the option to take over running the existing centre in the short term.I don't know how long this resident has lived in Calne, but the town has already spent many years campaigning and fundraising for the existing centre so the prospect of doing it all again would not seem entirely fair. My council taxes have increased the same as everybody else's and I must admit that I'm never entirely sure exactly what all the money is spent on and I'm sure that there are some things included that I never use, but I believe the point is that the money should be spent for the benefit of the town and the surrounding community. A lot of us believe that leisure services are an important part of that community. If you use these services specifically you pay for this usage anyway on top of your council tax payments. Without the existence of a local leisure centre then a lot of residents will not have the opportunity to access facilities and this will undoubtedly have a negative effect on people of all ages, but particularly the young people. So please remember the next time groups of youngsters are 'hanging around' the streets as they have nowhere else to go - they really will have nowhere else

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angie easton, calne says...
5:30pm Thu 12 Apr 07

very well said julie. If we lose calne sports centre now, who's to say we will ever get one again, it strikes me that its a done deal, 'they' dont want us to have a sports centre in calne so that we all have to travel to chippenham/wooton basset to use theirs!
also does 'calne resident' realise that their council tax is contributing to all other leisure centres in district....so if were paying lets keep ours open!


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vectisjon, Calne says...
7:09pm Thu 12 Apr 07

Calne Resident - you are already paying for the Calne Leisure Centre, not once but twice in your council tax. You may have noticed since you moved here that the calne precept is very high, the reason is we paid for the leisure centre when it was owned by the Town, and guess what our council tax did not go down when ownership was passed to the District. Nowe we also pay the same District rate as we were before even though we have no facilities. I would rather the Council paid to keep our own leisure centre in operation than we carried on apying through the nose for something we are denied.

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Calne resident, calne says...
7:39pm Thu 12 Apr 07

Just to clarify a few points, I have lived in Calne for a good few years now and understand how the centre was funded initially and how much it cost year on year (especially over the last few years) as well as anyone. Back to my original point, the centre was not fit for purpose any more. Have any of you ever seen the plant room! It was in an awful state (due to lack of funding by NWDC) and needed hundreds of thousands of pounds to up date. Fuel prices have rocketed over the last few years as I am sure you have all noticed, the energy costs to keep the centre open were spiralling out of control due to the extremely inefficient systems in place. I did actually use the centre three times a week and although it is a pain to use other centres, they are much more appealing. The centre could not stay open for ever WAKE UP!! If it was that well used it would have been saved and the revenue put back to improve the centre BUT IT WASN’T. The school paid very little each year but had huge use, the county council should be ashamed they are as much to blame as NWDC. The swimming club although large has be getting smaller and again using peak slots for not enough revenue. If you want services you have to pay for them. I am quite happy to use other centres and not pay more tax to this bunch of Pi** poor councillors (especially the Calne representatives).
Athena leisure? What makes you think you can run the centre? What is your track record? Probably the same as NWLL’s. If DC leisure won’t touch the site then what makes these nobodies think they can make it a success.

To finish, what a pathetic sit in, that just proves how many residents supported the campaign!

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Marie, Calne says...
1:53pm Fri 13 Apr 07

Wouldn't it be nice to get all Calne residents in one place at the same time to demonstrate our anger at the closure of the sport centre, it's just not going to happen. Well done to those able to go to the sit-in, at least it raises awareness.
People can't all get to the other centres, especially the kids, why is it assumed these days everyone wants to drive? The Chippenham leisure centre is no better than the one in Calne and the pool certainly can't support the amount of people living in Calne as well. Consider the fact that St Mary's sport centre has an extensive waiting list for membership - surely that indicates that the Calne centre could make a profit if properly run?
Good Luck to Athena Leisure.

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R.P.O, Calne says...
9:29am Tue 17 Apr 07

Inflation, inflation the cost of living! I have lived in Calne all my life, nearly 30 years and have used the center since I was a baby. Now the thing is Calne 30 years ago was a fraction of the size it is now! Yet the center was run not only for the then current population but also with the then current funding!
But now in 2007 look how much bigger Calne is. It’s not only DISGUSTING and INSANE that it the council has closed it seeing as the population is much higher. BUT WITH THE POPULATION BEING SO MUCH HIGHER doesn’t that mean the council are receiving that much more council tax? I mean WITH ALL THE NEW HOUSES AND ESTATES in Calne in the past 10 years alone; it’s pathetic to then tell me they don’t have the funds, let alone the argument that a growing population NEEDS the facilities. And although a private center is better than none. I don’t think we should submit to privatization. Is it really the way forward and if so show me one previous area where privatization has worked in the best interests of the public before?
Unfortunately this incident is part of a much wider problem!
What next private police services? Fire services? Come on Calne's not a booming metropolis but then its not a tiny little hamlet, if the council can provide necessary and basic services for its current population then I t should be allowing every square inch of land to be turned into housing estates increasing the population and OH YEAH THEIRCOUNCIL TAXE INCOME!!!

No funds … what a joke. Ignorance, bad management and few other choice words is what’s at play here!

Athena was the goddess of wisdom and is supposed to stand over whole intellectual and moral side of human life and affairs!
how ironic, lets hope some of her virtutes arise surrounding this issue!

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R.P.O, Calne says...
9:34am Tue 17 Apr 07

R.P.O wrote:
Inflation, inflation the cost of living! I have lived in Calne all my life, nearly 30 years and have used the center since I was a baby. Now the thing is Calne 30 years ago was a fraction of the size it is now! Yet the center was run not only for the then current population but also with the then current funding!
But now in 2007 look how much bigger Calne is. It’s not only DISGUSTING and INSANE that it the council has closed it seeing as the population is much higher. BUT WITH THE POPULATION BEING SO MUCH HIGHER doesn’t that mean the council are receiving that much more council tax? I mean WITH ALL THE NEW HOUSES AND ESTATES in Calne in the past 10 years alone; it’s pathetic to then tell me they don’t have the funds, let alone the argument that a growing population NEEDS the facilities. And although a private center is better than none. I don’t think we should submit to privatization. Is it really the way forward and if so show me one previous area where privatization has worked in the best interests of the public before?
Unfortunately this incident is part of a much wider problem!
What next private police services? Fire services? Come on Calne\'s not a booming metropolis but then its not a tiny little hamlet, if the council can provide necessary and basic services for its current population then I t should be allowing every square inch of land to be turned into housing estates increasing the population and OH YEAH THEIRCOUNCIL TAXE INCOME!!!

No funds … what a joke. Ignorance, bad management and few other choice words is what’s at play here!

Athena was the goddess of wisdom and is supposed to stand over whole intellectual and moral side of human life and affairs!
how ironic, lets hope some of her virtutes arise surrounding this issue!
AMENDMENT # if the councli CANT PROVIDE necessary and basic services for its current population then It should NOTitalic #

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