KINGFISHER LEISURE CENTRE FIASCO
When politicians fail to fulfill their responsibilities, or make decisions that go against the interests of their constituents, it erodes public trust and confidence in their leadership. We believe that this is what is happening in the case of the Kingfisher debacle.
Kingston Council released a statement on March 10, 2023, announcing that it will be postponing all future plans to construct a new swimming pool and leisure centre in the borough. The reason given for this decision is escalating costs.
The council made a commitment, a promise to us, to build an improved leisure centre. Four years later, four years later, the borough is still waiting for the construction to begin.
We need to remember the estimated cost of replacing the roof of the Kingston Kingfisher Leisure Centre was around £5 million, and despite the local opposition and demands for an alternative approach, the centre was demolished in 2022.
The council's recent statement was shockingly disappointing and lacks any substance. It did not provide any commitments or assurances regarding the construction of a new leisure centre in the near future.
The lack of an apology and failure to acknowledge any lessons learned from the highly inaccurate statements raised by the Council at the time means one month on, we are still not clear what is going on.
If the Council is now going to propose something that looks very different to the original scheme, who will make the decision on what elements will be scrapped or downgraded? We hope it is not the same “experienced team” who made the original decisions.