Company looking at taking on Dudley's leisure centres greeted by protesters
Representatives of a private company interested in taking over the running of Dudley's three main leisure centres were greeted with protesters as they were taken on a tour of one of the centres.
It is believed that three private operators are interested in taking over the running of the Duncan Edwards leisure centre in Dudley town centre, Crystal leisure centre in Stourbridge, and Halesowen leisure centre.
The council is looking to hand the management over to an independent operator as it looks to cut £42 million from its budget during the 2025/26 financial year.
But the plans have been met with objections from campaigners, including Dudley Trades Union Council, Unison, and Dudley College students' union.
Chaz Stoll, of the Keep DB Leisure a Public Service group, was among the protesters who turned out to greet the visitors at Halesowen leisure centre last month.
He said petitions to fight the closure had attracted more than 4,000 signatures.
Mr Stoll said the construction of the Duncan Edwards leisure centre had cost £18.5 million to build, and the council had also spent £8.4 million refurbishing Halesowen leisure centre.
"No wonder they want to run our centres," he said.
"This is incredible, after council taxpayers have just paid to renew them. To me, this is like buying a new car and giving it away to someone to drive. It’s nuts!”
Mr Stoll claimed the council had spent £26,000 plus VAT on consultants to analyse how best to outsource the services.
"They want us to be grateful that our leisure centres aren’t closing – but we think they are too important to be run by a private firm.
"The campaign believes that they should be publicly run for the benefit and the health of the community. "
He said a protest would take place on March 3 on the steps of Dudley Council House in Priory Road, starting at 5.15pm
Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of Dudley Council, said the future of the centres were now safe for the medium term as a result of the decisions made in the council's recently published five-year strategy.
“That gives us five years to secure their long-term future, and we will be looking at every option available to us in order to maintain all three,” he said.
