ALTON and District Sports Council is urging everyone, in particular sports men and women and schools and youth organisations, to respond to Alton Town Council’s public consultation into the mix of facilities to be provided by a new Alton Sports Centre.

Hugely concerned that Alton will end up with a ‘leisure centre’ rather then a ‘sports centre’, according to sports council chairman Joe Walters, if Alton has any hope of influencing a change to the mix of facilities proposed, it is “absolutely crucial” townsfolk and centre users respond to the consultation.

He said: “Alton and District Sports Council has nailed its colours to the mast of Alton Town Council’s survey. If the public want a leisure centre as opposed to a sports centre then that is what the town will get and we move our sports out of town.”

The plea for people to respond reflects “significant” concern over the lack of public consultation and that Alton will end up with a replacement centre that will not provide for the sporting needs or wishes of a rapidly-growing community.

They are concerns which, for Alton and District Sports Council, have doubled following the release last week by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) of the first pictures of the proposed facility which members believe clearly indicate an emphasis on leisure, and away from sport.

They point in particular to the ‘like-for-like’ replacement of a six-lane swimming pool when there has been a long-held need for an eight-lane pool, the reduction in the number of squash courts from four to two, and the introduction within the centre of a privately-run spa.

To be built by EHDC in a joint venture with new partner Everyone Active, which took on the management of the current sports centre last month, the new facility will cost in the region of £20m and is expected to be open to the public in autumn 2019.

It is to be built on the artificial turf pitch behind the existing 1970s-era centre, which will be demolished once the new building is in operation.

While recognising the need for a replacement building, Alton and District Sports Council is deeply concerned over the decision by EHDC to present a done deal to the community, after signing a legal agreement with Everyone Active at the end of March without full public consultation, and then insisting that the facilities mix in particular was “non-negotiable”.

Public backlash over the situation triggered the decision by the town council to seek public views on the specification for the new sports centre and if people are supportive of what has been decided.

Having seen the images of the interior which, Joe Walters believes, serve to highlight the decision by EHDC and Everyone Active to provide a ‘leisure’ centre at the expense of the improved sports provision required to address the growing need for these facilities in the Alton area, he is urging Alton and District Sports Council members – both individuals and clubs – to actively encourage as many people as possible to respond to the public consultation.

And he added: “It has been a tremendous effort by all to get the (town) council to defer the vote (on whether or not to support the proposals put forward by EHDC) and for them to be brave enough to put out the survey. Truly democracy at work.

“We now need one final push to ensure that the town gets what it wants. We need more help if we are going to get the result that is best for the town.”

Fliers flagging up the town council’s public consultation should now have arrived on the doormats of every home in the Alton area, inviting online comment via surveymonkey.co.uk/r/

altonsportscentre.

Alternatively, paper copies of the consultation will be available from Alton Town Hall on the Market Square, as well as Alton College, Alton Community Centre, Alton Assembly Rooms, Alton Library, and Alton Sports Centre.

In addition, there is an adapted survey for sports clubs and schools to enable the town council to understand their usage of the sports centre and whether they are supportive of the design.

A series of drop-in sessions, supported by Alton and District Sports Council members, kicked off at Alton Assembly Rooms on Tuesday. It will be followed on Saturday (June 3) by a session from 9am to noon at Alton Sports Centre, with similar sessions at the same venue from 5pm-8pm on Wednesday (June 7), and from 9am-11am on Monday (June 19).

Alton Town Council will also have a stand at the Tuesday market on the High Street from 10am-2pm on June 6, June 13 and June 20; at Alton Farmers Market from 9am-1pm on Saturday, June 10; and during Regency Day from 10am-2pm on Saturday, June 17.

The results from the consultation will be collated by town council officers and presented back to councillors at the next meeting of the full council on July 12, when the matter will be debated.