Lib Dems call on Bromsgrove Council to save the Ryland Centre

An emergency motion has been submitted to next week's Bromsgrove Council meeting on 25
January in a bid to stop the Ryland Centre being sold off.

The much-valued community health and fitness centre is being sold by Conservative controlled
Worcestershire County Council. The county authority owns the centre but argues that it is not within
their remit to run leisure services. It was previously run by Sandwell Leisure Trust, but they have now
pulled out.

The County Council is currently looking at a number of options including a sale to a private provider
which would mean the centre would cease to be under public ownership. It is an attractive
proposition because it contains the only running track in the area.

The Lib Dem motion asks Bromsgrove District Council (BDC) to explore taking over the running of the
Ryland Centre to guarantee its continued availability to the community. Whilst BDC has no legal
obligation to do so, it has the portfolio for leisure and plays a key role in coordinating leisure services
in the district.

The emergency motion has been submitted by the Lib Dem representative for Bromsgrove Central
ward, where the Ryland Centre is based. Cllr Siobhan Robinson said: "I am absolutely appalled that
Worcestershire is selling the family silver off in this way. There is, as yet, no cast iron guarantee that
the new owner will continue to make the facilities available to local schools and the community in
the same way, let alone what the cost might be."

Lib Dem Group Leader Cllr Rob Hunter added "I'm extremely grateful to Cllr Siobhan Robinson for
this important motion and for the support of our county councillor Josh Robinson. After the fiasco
with the sports hall, and the continued uncertainty over the future of the Artrix, we simply cannot
allow yet another one of Bromsgrove's much loved community facilities to face an uncertain future.
We must act now, and I completely back Siobhan's call for BDC to step up to the plate".