Labour leader wants final 'decisive' consultation on future of new Ayr leisure centre

dailyrecord.co.uk:

South Ayrshire Labour’s leader wants a final ‘decisive’ consultation on the controversial Ayr leisure centre.One of new Conservative council leader Martin Dowey’s first moves on securing the administration last week was to reiterate his promise to scrap the project – citing the spiralling costs.However, a decision has yet to be taken on exactly how it will be formally scrapped.

Cllr Dowey said that the council had only approved a £45m project and that he would not borrow more to meet rising costs.But Labour group leader Councillor McGinley said that he believed that other costs should be taken into account, including the provision of facilities when refurbishing the Citadel Leisure Centre, the potential costs of dealing with asbestos and the difficulty in making the centre carbon neutral.He said: “The cost of refurbishment will also go up.

It is not only inflation.“I am talking about dealing with the asbestos they may find, finding that the shape and size of the building will make it extremely costly to make carbon neutral, which is a requirement.“People know a £40m investment in Ayr town centre will be fantastic for the people of South Ayrshire.”He also claimed that the Conservative plans to spread the money allocated to the leisure centre would dilute the cost benefits.Cllr McGinley continued: “I think announcing the cancellation of the leisure centre is a bit premature.

I don’t think it is the right thing to do, but I understand why it has been done.”He also criticized some of the objectors, claiming that for some it is a class issue.“There is a small group of ‘chattering classes’ who want to hold South Ayrshire to ransom,” he said. ”They don’t want to see social housing down at the Citadel."A lot of the criticism of