A campaign has been launched to protect a sports centre which closed without warning from the “wrong kind of buyer”.
Tony Vaughan, the Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, has applied to register the Folkestone Sports Centre as an “asset of community value”.
The popular facility closed at the end of July causing 144 job losses and Mr Vaughan’s submission will now be considered by Folkestone and Hythe District Council.
Trustees of Folkestone Sports Centre Trust, the charity that ran the facility, said it could no longer afford to remain operational.
The centre in Radnor Park Avenue was put on the market by Christie and Co last month following its sudden closure and is expected to attract a “diverse range of property investors”.
Appointed administrators Opus Restructuring LLP previously said building homes on the site cannot be ruled out.
It is not clear how much it will be sold for but Christie and Co says it is asking for offers.
Now Mr Vaughan and the Save Folkestone Sports Centre community group have applied to FHDC to protect the sports centre under the Localism Act 2011.
The purpose of the application is to save it from developers by triggering a six-month moratorium on the sale to provide time for community-focused groups to bid for the centre.
“It is vital that we protect Folkestone Sports Centre as an Asset of Community Value,” explained Mr Vaughan.
“The centre is the backbone of the local community. Generations of residents of Folkestone, Hythe and beyond have used this centre for competitive sport, general health, mental wellbeing and social contact.
“It can and must reopen for the community.
“Now that the site has been put on the market I am worried that a developer, who has no interest in maintaining leisure facilities on the site, could make an offer that the administrators cannot refuse.
“The centre could then be sold off before community groups have had time to assemble a competitive bid.
“That problem would be solved if the district council agreed to list the site as an asset of community value.
“That would freeze the sale process for six months so groups with the community’s interests in mind have a proper chance to bid.
“This way, developers with deep pockets are not able to get ahead of the community before they are ready.
“That is why on September 12, the Save Folkestone Sports Centre group and I applied to the council to list the sports centre site as an asset of community value.
“We took this action in the interests of the community.
“I am aware that there has been a lot of interest in the site.
“I am worried about a deal being done on the sports centre with the wrong kind of buyer, before our application is decided, which could mean we lose the sports centre forever.
“I would call on the council to do everything it can to decide the application as a matter of urgency.”
Olympic swimming champion Adam Peaty has also shown support for the centre after pleading for a new owner to come forward to take it over.
The swimmer, who won gold at the Rio 2016 Olympics in the men’s 100m breaststroke, sent a video message of support to Folkestone Swimming Club.
Folkestone Town Council (FTC) has also shown support for the application to list the site as an asset of community value.
In a letter to the district council this week, FTC said: “We would like to see [Folkestone Sports Centre] reopen as soon as possible.
“We are concerned that a sale could be concluded at any time without taking into account the needs and concerns of the people of Folkestone and the surrounding district.
“It is critical that FHDC decides on this application urgently.
“The six-month moratorium [on the sale process] the ACV would provide and allow FTC and FHDC time to engage with local community organisations to see if a workable partnership could be formed to save the Sports Centre.”
Lord Radnor donated the site to the trust for recreational use only, and the facility was opened by Princess Anne in 1972.
Over the years the property and business has evolved, adding on a Wellness Centre in 1986.
The business had been operating on both a regular user and membership basis as well as for pay-and-play visitors, offering a wide range of indoor and outdoor leisure facilities.
These include two swimming pools, a health and fitness suite, an indoor sports hall, three squash courts, spin and aerobics studios, a health and beauty facility and a café/bar.
Outside are three outdoor tennis courts, an archery area, ‘dry’ ski slope, a nine-hole footgolf course and a SkyWalk high ropes course, which was one of the most recent developments, opening in spring 2021.
FHDC says the application is currently being assessed and the outcome will be communicated in due course.
