A Cheshire East councillor is calling on the audit and governance committee to look at the decision-making process which has led to the impending closure of Middlewich Leisure Centre.

The centre is due to close at the end of this month, following a decision taken by council officers under delegated authority.

But many councillors are furious they were prevented from discussing it at the most recent meeting of the environment and communities (E&C) committee in March – especially as they believe the officers didn't have the authority to close it.

Sutton councillor Chris O'Leary (Con) vented his anger again on Facebook this week.

He posted: "The closure of a leisure centre is, by any understanding, a political decision and is one that should be taken by councillors.

"But it is also the case that officers were not given delegated authority to make decisions that resulted in the closure of a leisure centre."

The E&C committee voted in March 2024 to offload the leisure centre to Middlewich High School.

At that meeting last year, the committee agreed to delegate authority to officers to 'take forward to completion asset disposals at the Holmes Chapel and Middlewich joint use sites, to allow alternative local delivery models to establish'.

In the most recent E&C committee meeting two months ago, some councillors tried to question the closure decision and whether officers had the power to make that decision – but they were prevented from discussing it by the acting chair, on the advice of officers, because it wasn't on the agenda.

At the time though, Chris Allman, director of environment and planning, did tell councillors: "My understanding is it was delegated to a director to take all necessary steps to implement that decision."

Several councillors still don't agree.

Cllr O'Leary told the Local Democracy Reporting Service today he won't let the matter rest.

He has asked Cheshire East for the officer decision record – which has to be published on the council's website – and was told an 'administrative error' meant it hadn't been.

The council email, in response to his query, said: "The decision to break the lease with Middlewich High School was made in accordance with the delegated authority from the councils E&C committee, the ODR was completed and signed by the acting executive director place, but an administrative error occurred and the ODR wasn't published."

The next meeting of the audit and governance committee is scheduled to take place on May 29 and Cllr O'Leary says he is determined to raise the matter then.

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