LOCAL groups have expressed their frustration at the recent update on the future of Christie Miller Sports Centre and have appealed to Wiltshire Council to give them ‘concrete information’.
The Christie Miller Indoor Bowls Club says that the lack of information is preventing them from moving forward with fundraising for their new facilities, jeopardising next year’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Whilst a community group set up to watch over the progress of the Melksham Health and Wellbeing Centre has said that the update sounds like a ‘get-out’ clause.
Club members and the community were expecting to find out when the sports centre would be closing and which services were to be relocated, at this month’s Melksham Area Board meeting. At a previous area board meeting in February, Wiltshire cllr John Thomson said that a decision on the sports centre’s future would be revealed in April.
However, the update at this month’s meeting said, “Christie Miller remains open and operational; however, as previously discussed no further significant investment will be made into the centre. Options for re-provision of some facilities are still being considered and will be subject to cost and there being no impact on the overall budget for the new campus.”
In response, Mick Over from the Christie Miller Indoors Bowls Club said, “Once again the council has a great way of telling us absolutely nothing. Could I on behalf of the Christie Miller Indoors Bowls Club please ask cllr John Thomson and other members involved in the new ‘Health and Wellbeing Centre’ to at least advise us of the exact area we are to be allocated at Melksham House site, for the provision of a new ‘Indoor Bowls Club’. This will then allow us to start the fundraising that is needed.
“We as a bowls club have to arrange a lot of our national competitions a year in advance. We can no longer be fobbed off without something concrete being done.
“Next year, Christie Miller Indoor Bowls Club will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. It would be great to at least have a start date for our new indoor bowls centre.
“I ask on behalf of all bowlers in the West Wilts area. Councillors – do the job you were elected for, give the answers we need to allow us the get on with the task of raising funds.”
Also concerned by the update is Colin Goodhind, who set up the campus community monitoring group after plans for the new centre were announced in October. He said, “The statement ‘options for re-provision of some facilities are still being considered and will be subject to cost and there being no impact on the overall budget for the new campus’ is worrying because we were assured right from the start that provision of key services would continue until they were available at the new campus. This does sound like a ‘get-out’ clause and is something we’ll be watching very closely.”
Wiltshire Council was approached for comment, but had not responded by the time the paper went to print.
