Two leisure centres near Sandbach are under threat, after Cheshire East Council announced it could remove funding as part of a new proposal.

The council is set to consult on proposals for leisure services across the borough – as it looks to focus future investment on where demand for services is the greatest.

This could mean removing the funding the council currently provides to support the provision of leisure centres in Holmes Chapel, Middlewich, Knutsford and Poynton with a view to these sites being either operated on a commercial basis or being closed.

The borough's leisure centres are operated on behalf of the council by Everybody Health and Leisure, a charitable trust, who say they do not support the proposals.

At November's environment and communities committee, a report will be presented which provides an update on the council's strategic review of leisure services, which is included in the authority's adopted medium-term financial strategy (MTFS).

Last week, the council published an updated financial forecast which shows a potential shortfall of £18.7m against anticipated expenditure in 2023/24.

The first stage of the leisure services review – based around the need to generate £1.29m of essential savings in 2023/24 – is now secured.

The second stage of the review focuses on how the current levels of funding the council gives to support leisure services can be used to achieve the greatest outcomes for residents' health, particularly in areas of the borough where there are health inequalities.

Subject to committee's approval, a public consultation on options for how this could be achieved is set to launch later this month.

Councillor Mick Warren, chair of Cheshire East Council's environment and communities committee, said: "The health and wellbeing of our residents is extremely important to the council, and leisure centres and the services they offer are a key part of supporting our residents to lead healthier lifestyles.

"But, in the context of the wider financial challenges the council is facing, we must consider the long-term affordability of these services, and where funding should be focused so that it has the biggest impact for the greatest number of people.

"Since the adoption of the council's MTFS earlier this year, significant budget savings have been made in leisure services.

"However, the reality is that these savings are still not enough – costs are rising drastically. Last year, funding to maintain leisure centres and cover the related utility fees cost the council more than £1m extra, compared to the previous year.

"Working with Everybody Health and Leisure, we simply must look at how we further prioritise how we continue to financially support the delivery of leisure services for the residents of Cheshire East."

In an open letter, Everybody Health and Leisure say the proposal could remove local access to recreation and leisure facilities to a significant number of Cheshire East residents.

"We have grave concerns about the inevitable outcomes and believe that these proposals will have a detrimental impact on the physical and mental health of many people," say Everybody Health and Leisure.

"As a charity, Everybody Health and Leisure does not differentiate against people's health based on where they live.

"We believe all residents deserve access to local facilities and services which support their health and wellbeing."

They go on to say that the costs to implement such changes "could exceed the savings that appear to be targeted" in the medium-term.

(Image: Everybody Health and Leisure)

"If the proposals go ahead. Everybody Health and Leisure will work with any organisation to keep the facilities open if a sustainable alternative could be achieved - but at present it is not clear to us how this would be possible," they say.

"Moving children across the borough for school swimming and other activities does not contribute towards CEC's carbon net zero ambitions.

"The potential impact on local employment if these proposals result in closures could be considerable – with over 200 local people currently working across the four sites.

"We encourage all customers, partners, hirers and all other stakeholders to express their views during the six-week consultation process.

"Should the proposals be accepted for public consultation, it is expected to go live w/c 20 November. Please join our mailing list to be alerted when the consultation is live, via www.everybody.org.uk/slr."

The link to read the full agenda details for November 9th's environment and communities committee is here