Plans for a £15m sports complex in Didcot abandoned by district council (From The Oxford Times)

Plans for a £15m sports complex in Didcot abandoned by district council

12:38pm Tuesday 23rd June 2009 in

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PLANS for a £15m sports centre for Didcot have been abandoned for the foreseeable future because of the recession, South Oxfordshire District Council admitted this week.

Last year, the council said it wanted to build a sports centre to rival Abingdon’s White Horse Leisure and Tennis Centre, which would have included a swimming pool, an all-weather sports pitch and six tennis courts.

The centre would have helped meet a shortfall of sport and recreation provision in Didcot and go some way to meeting the leisure needs of the town’s growing population.

But, this week, a council spokesman said: “As a result (of the recession), there is less demand for housing and less funding available to the council. The council will not pay all of the cost of a new centre itself, as the interest from its investments is no longer sufficient to meet the demands upon it, unlike previous years when it was able to invest in the town centre, the cinema and the Cornerstone Arts Centre.

“Therefore, until the demand for a new leisure centre increases, as a result of a significant amount of new housing being built as part of the planned growth of the town, the council will not be developing a new centre, although it will be keeping the proposal under review and investigating funding options.”

In the meantime, the council said it hoped to build a £500,000 artificial turf pitch, possibly near Willowbrook Leisure Centre and Didcot Town Football Club on the Ladygrove estate to help meet local sports needs.

Sports groups said the town could not expand without the additional facilities.

Andrew Rolfe, president of Didcot Rugby Club, said: “It has to have an impact on the town because we can’t grow without additional facilities.

“We have just started the youth rugby section and as that takes off, one pitch in Edmonds Park will have to grow to keep us going.”

Roy Hayes, of Didcot Swimming Club, has been teaching swimming in the town for 30 years. He said: “I’m not surprised. Everything comes down to cost. Nothing is free in this world. Didcot has always been left behind.”

District councillor Bill Service, cabinet member for leisure, said: “While there could always be more leisure facilities available and Didcot will need additional facilities as the town grows, residents have a number of quality facilities available to them.

“Unfortunately, the recession has delayed the provision of a new leisure centre until the housing market improves.”

Consultants employed by the district council to review sport and recreation provision in the town recommended a new sports centre should replace the Didcot Wave in Newlands Avenue at a bigger site elsewhere in the town.

It would have included an eight-court sports hall, a gym, a dance studio, a multi-use games area and a training pool.

District councillor John Cotton, cabinet member for Didcot, said: “I don’t disagree that Didcot needs sports facilities, but Abingdon has got a big sports centre, so it’s not as if residents don’t have access to sport nearby.”

He said: “I think in two or three years, the debate will come back round.”