PROTESTERS were dealt a huge blow at a recent meeting of Bromsgrove District Council after a motion to reconsider plans not to include a sports hall in the town’s new £13 million leisure centre development was defeated, despite a heartfelt and sometimes heated plea to the Tory side of the council, by first members of the public and then Labour and independent councillors urging the council to rethink its plans.

More than 70 members of the public filled the gallery, to watch Labour councillor Christopher Bloore put forward a motion to reconsider the council’s plans, while resident Sharron Kibble presented two petitions from 1,132 residents opposing the plans.

Conservative councillor Rod Laight called the proposed centre ‘a fantastic modern facility to serve generations to come’ which would be ‘the jewel in the crown of Worcestershire’ reminding councillors and members of the public that the decision not to include a sports hall had been agreed in close consultation with National Government bodies and Sports England.

Petition organiser Philip Ganner called the scheme a ‘downgrading of facilities’ pointing out that there were already 14 low cost gyms in the area, but that the only public badminton courts that made the required standard were in the dolphin centre.

Another resident Peter Rendell said: “You may never be forgiven if you deny these facilities to our children and our grandchildren.”

When resident Louise Humphries listed the current activities on offer through the sports hall for younger children and asked what the new centre would offer to replace them, the public gallery became quite irate by Cllr Laight's response as he listed the new centre’s facilities, including the fitness suite, spin cycles and the spa, none of which seemed to convince the public gallery they would keep children occupied.

When Cllr Laight said the new site will be going ahead as agreed and opening in 2017, there were cries of ‘shame’, ‘disgraceful’, and ‘it’s disgusting’ from the public gallery.

Later in the meeting Cllr Bloore submitted a motion for the council to urgently revisit and renew the plans, to include the building of an onsite sports hall as soon as possible.

He gave a heated and impassioned speech to councillors about the impact the decision to not include a sports hall would have on residents, and how important he believed it was to keep the facility at the new centre, reiterating concerns from residents over the ability to access sports hall facilities in the local schools during term times.

Labour councillor Michael Thompson added: “It’s about people designing a sports hall to their own taste and not giving a damn about what the public thinks.”

Conservative councillor June Griffiths accused the Labour councillors of voting in favour of the leisure centre without the sports hall at a vote in July 2014, while Cllr Laight responded that he had only received two emails opposing the leisure centre.

Councillor Sue Baxter for Wythall Residents’ Association had originally opposed the plans for the leisure centre last year and supported the motion, stating that ‘every council tax payer will be paying for this for the next 50 years’ adding that the leisure centre is ‘a project which meets nobody’s needs.’

Cllr Bloore said: “If it’s a choice between having a leisure centre or not having a leisure centre we want a leisure centre, but we made our feelings damn clear that we wanted a sports hall.” he added: “I think the people of my ward and the people of this town deserve better.”

As the motion was defeated, someone in the public gallery muttered ‘I’m disappointed in you all’.

After the meeting Mr Ganner added on the protestors' website: "The council was very intransigent - it was more or less 'we've made a decision, we know what's best for you, now get on with it. And I was really disappointed by the silence of the back benchers on the Conservative side."