Fareham council approves £6.3m extension of leisure centre

Fareham Leisure Centre, in Park Lane, Fareham, will expand to include a larger gym area, a new studio space, and a new climbing area.

For children, there will be a splash pad area next to the swimming pool, and the squash court will be replaced with a soft play area.

There will also be additional parking at the centre, which is managed by leisure company Everyone Active.

But several residents joined the online planning meeting to object to the plans removal of the centre’s squash courts, with one resident saying the proposals were ‘full of contradictions and skewered statistics’.

Ms Coxwell, who made a deputation, said: ‘The entire planning process is full of contractions and skewered statistics.

‘The courts are to be replaced by a soft play area because the other local soft play areas in the area closed – because they were not financially viable.

‘Can anyone explain the logic to me?’

Squash players had previously highlighted concerns about the proposal’s consultation process, with Everyone Active presenting figures showing declining use of the courts – but the company’s website describes the squash facilities as ‘exceptionally popular’.

Members of a squash league, which has used the centre for more than 15 years, collected 160 signatures for a petition to save the courts.

Another resident at the planning meeting said that the ‘shortfalls in the consultation’ had been raised in a complaint to the local government and social care ombudsman.

Only one councillor on the committee voted to reject the plans, with Councillor Roger Price saying it represented ‘money being put over the provision of services’.

He said: ‘I am not happy with the squash courts being taken away.’

The £6.3m expansion will be funded initially from borrowing by Fareham Borough Council.

The authority aims to recoup the money by cutting costs thanks to a 10-year management contract with Everyone Active, agreed in November.

The leisure centre, which was built in 1980, was refurbished in 2014, with new changing rooms, a replacement pool water filtration system, and an updated exterior costing £1.5m.

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