Leisure centre closure consultation had just 37 responses (From The Northern Echo)

While I would hope to be proved wrong in this case, can anyone ever remember the Local Authority ever taking any notice of the general public?
They sit up there in their ivory towers making life changing decisions, with what qualification?
For once would it be possible for the Council to make a decision on ethics and morals rather than pure finances?
Remember who put you there in your positions of power ladies and gentlemen, the gravy train may well be coming to the end of the line.

haha i thought this might happen what a laugh these council officials love winding us up i wonder how many they threw in the bin while they were eating their buffets laughing at the public i love the way they pretend to listen to the public they think we are stupid bring on the outdoor activities Durham County Council and will you provide transport for me to get there as the public transport is a joke. i cant wait in this weather haha will you be providing me waterproofs and wellies haha my god, it will like being in australia or spain haha

"But Councillor David Farry, who handed in a 3,800-name petition against the Ferryhill closure on Thursday, said the council had ignored residents.

He said: “The officers totally missed the mark when they first proposed the closures because they hadn’t listened to the people who use them.”

Am I missing the point here but how can the Council listen to the people who use the leisure centres if only 37 people bother responding to a questionnaire? Maybe if the 3,800 people who had signed the petition sent their questionnaire back the council would of thought differantly about the closure.

Why consult in the first place as the council has already made its mind up! They just want the public to think they are being valued and listened to which is never the case!! More money wasted!

i wonder if this figure includes online surveys can the council tell us what the 37 people said from the surveys

Cant believe there were only 37 responses, I know for a fact that at least 20+ people, from the Deerness Leisure Centre, sent their forms back to the Council or gave them to the Leisure Centre Manager to forward on.
Why dont the Council just tell us up front that they already made their mind up months ago and this charade of a consultation is just farce!!

I Think this whole set up will prove that the council will not even listen to Third party operators and put every obstacle in place to stop people taken over them looks like the bulldozers will be moving in

There is something seriously wrong with the way they are collating data. I completed the online questionaire and i was number 118. Now maths aint my strong point but something DOES NOT ADD UP. These people are a disgrace

"Major stakeholders" strikes me as having all the connotations of "smoke-filled rooms". And I wonder what on earth NHS County Durham has to do with the issue of keeping leisure centres open. Perhaps they were there to tell the Council the streets were unlikely to be piled high with people who'd died of unfitness the day after the centres closed. As for recreation in the outdoor environment, the axing of late and Sunday buses to and from Weardale doesn't help that.

The silver lining in this saga is that the provision of the leisure centres in the first place was - as far as I can see - a very good idea on the part of the council or councils concerned. They seem to have been much used and highly valued. The Council should have a re-think, at least, before scrapping one of its predecessors' real successes.

Local authorities are cash strapped and need money for their pet projects, so they'll take all steps to prove that no questionnaires are filled, or petitions received. It's up to someone involved to get them to answer questions. At least 116 questionnaires were sent in on line ? Well take them to task. Report them to the Police. If you had a similar incident with a confidence trickster, you'd soon ring the Police. No difference. Make them come up with the evidence in court and you show yours. If the questionnaire is still open, get a friend to fill it in and make notes. If they are cheating on you, you need to prove it. There will be an ombudsman. Here is a link. Paste this into your browser.

http://www.lgo.org.u
k/making-a-complaint
/

If you don't do something positive, you can't expect anyone else to.

Spy Boy....what a load of b*llocks..

The council have several gyms run in partnership with Lifestyle, employees at the gyms are set targets to enroll people on direct debit schemes. These schemes are expensive for the casual user who may only wish to use the gyms a couple of times each week during the winter months.

The fee's for casual users of the gym are inflated, this is to pressure people to join the direct debit scheme at the gym.

Surely as a Council Tax payers we have already subsidised the gym and I believe that the residents of County Durham are entitled to a fair price for casual use of facilities provided.

Leisure has and will always be subsised by the Council Tax payer, as the maangement & cabinet of DCC know too well.

Leisure facilities are important to residents, as they promote a healthy lifestyle, in a county with a very poor record of health in national statistics.

The ATTEMPTED CLOSURE of the DCC leisure centers was always on the cards, they are using the governments budget cuts, as a smoke screen for all savage cuts taking part in the County, DCC realise this now, its about that the Council Tax payer woke-up too!
Labour controlled DCC promised savings of £84m at its inception but these never happened, and potentially now the health of the residents of County Durham is being placed at risk, by the b*llsh*t that we all have to listen to from the over paid management & cabinet at DCC.

Perhaps with election next year their will be a change of leadership at DCC, as independent councillors fight our corner, Mr. Heing & Co. should take heed of this because none of the current cabinet could earn a fraction of their current earnings? in the real world, hopefully its back to the world of working as an security guard etc. (In the private sector, not Council) for many members of this inept cabinet.

As for throwing money at consultants to carry out surveys etc. DCC could save a fortune by using one of the many on-line survey programs. These programs are very cheap £240-00p annual cost, (the data is sorted on-line by the program concerned). The only problem that I forsee is finding someone at DCC to think of the questions to ask & add them to the www. this perhaps is well beyond the capabilites of anyone at DCC, if they haven't already realised this.

Any savings could be used to subsidise several leisure centres, as opposed to subsidising the lifestyles of former Directors of leisure at DCC, that already have massive pension pots to live on.

Remember THE BRITAS EMPIRE it was so true, you that you wouldn't believe, but that comedy series synopsis could have worked in any department of DCC., it is so full of such characters.

Don't believe for one minute that the rest of the leisure centers are safe, "Trustee's" are trawling through all leisure centers at the moment, I see them most days, everyone is up for grabs & thus should be place upon the "DCC at Risk Register".

Time for a fitness revolution in County Durham but hopefully not the one that DCC want, but for the health of the residents of the count.

Then to rub salt in the wounds of everyone, Simon Heing (DCC Leader) does a publicity stump, encouraging everyone to get involved with the Olympics in the county when the torch passes through the County Durham in 2012.

I think they had a slogan once "Put fitness first!" well never has a truer thing been said.

Sorry several typo's in above but I need to correct this one.

DCC realise this now, its about that the Council Tax payer woke-up too!

DCC employee's now realise this, its about time that the Council Tax payer woke-up too!

I wonder how many cuts will be made in their diversity and political correctness departments. You get what you vote for folks so keep on trucking. Our country will never be strong again as long as we have a bunch of limp wristed liberals running the show.

...surely Adam you're not suggesting there's a party waiting in the wings which could right these wrongs? Given the BNP can't settle a printing bill on time how would they manage big money budgets such as these? The council clearly mind their mind up some time ago to shut these venues; the "consultation" merely adds legitimacy to the process...its short sighted as the North East has a huge obesity crisis brewing, second only to Scotland's problems so the short term money saving of closing these places to save a few quid when NHS costs will spiral to treat obesity related illnesses is madness. Health, wellbeing and fitness is one area which needs investment.