Home   News   Opinion   Article

Opinion: If local councils are abolished what protection will leisure centres or theatres have to ensure they aren’t sold to balance budgets?

For sale boards are going up on youth centres in Kent as the county council attempts to save more than £900,000.

Just last week one of those facilities went on the market with a £500,000 guide price and the promise of a site offering a ‘fabulous opportunity’ for builders and developers.

New House Sports and Youth Centre in Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne is up for sale with a guide price of £500,000. Picture: Clive Emson.
New House Sports and Youth Centre in Chalkwell Road, Sittingbourne is up for sale with a guide price of £500,000. Picture: Clive Emson.

It was this time last year when the future of Kent’s 99 public library buildings came under the spotlight as county council bosses continued their search for tens of millions of pounds worth of savings.

KCC blames its enormous financial pressures on the soaring costs of adult social care, children’s services and home-to-school transport combined with less cash from central government.

Already overspent by many many millions of pounds, KCC reportedly needs to find £144 million in 2026-27 - around £55 million more than the current financial year.

Nobody wants to see youth centres or even libraries lost - but it’s easy to see why they risk becoming a casualty when very important and essential services like schools or care homes need paying for.

KCC blames the rising cost of social care as among the reasons why it is struggling to balance the books. Image: iStock.
KCC blames the rising cost of social care as among the reasons why it is struggling to balance the books. Image: iStock.

But should all of Kent’s 14 authorities be abolished in a proposed reorganisation of local government and replaced with much smaller unitary authorities, how protected would other non-essential assets in our county be?

Town centre museums? Leisure centres? Swimming pools or even theatres? Many of them are within buildings currently owned by our borough or district councils whose future is now under threat.

And while those smaller councils may be struggling to balance their own books they don’t have the weight of enormous education or social care budgets bearing down on them. Or the responsibility that comes with it.

Some of the places to eat on offer at Riverside Social, Canterbury
Some of the places to eat on offer at Riverside Social, Canterbury

What might the future hold for leisure complexes like the Riverside development in Canterbury - full of restaurants, a battle bar and cinema all owned by the city council - if the unitary authority to eventually run that area of east Kent faced a black hole in funding primary schools or needed more money for carers for adults with additional needs?

What about Kent’s many parks or rec grounds?

Again, most are owned by borough and district councils, but might some risk being sold off if they come under a newly formed council that suddenly needed many more millions of pounds to fund residential homes or school transport?

There is no statutory duty for councils to provide things like leisure centres, parks or local museums but therefore what protections will exist if they’re one day competing with education or social care for a share of the cash?

Close This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies.Learn More