Jobs Under Threat At North Wales Coastal Resorts

Yet another example that the economic recovery remains a fragile one comes at Rhyl and Prestatyn where three leisure sites are under threat of closure with the loss of 70 jobs.

News filtering from Clwyd Leisure, a not-for-profit trust, said the decision was due to a funding dispute with Denbighshire Council. and a consultation process has begun with staff at the three centres namely, Sun Centre in Rhyl, the Nova Centre and the North Wales Indoor Bowls Centre, both in Prestatyn.

The council said it is "shocked" at the statement and will respond further on Monday. Clwyd Leisure was set up by the council in 2001 with the remit of running tourism and leisure facilities on its behalf.
For its part, the Trust has responded by saying that despite there being a  legal obligation,  the council has undertaken a programme of continually cutting its funding, a position that has  resulted in an impossible position where the centres will have to close.

Sun Centre Rhyl is under threat

It said that since it began operating the facilities the annual funding had been reduced from £391,000 to £295,000. Earlier this year the council imposed a further reduction of £50,000 and now proposes to make a further year-on-year funding reduction of £50,000 annually, the trust said. It added that unless a way is found to move forward,  the Sun Centre in Rhyl may not open for business in 2014, with the Nova Centre and North Wales Indoor Bowls Centre possibly could closing on 31 March. As well as the 70 permanent staff jobs, another 55 seasonal positions are also likely to be affected.

The trust board said it had given Denbighshire council "forewarning" about the situation and it "regretted having to take this action but have been left with no alternative options. The board of Clwyd Leisure wish to offer sincere apologies to our staff, customers and the communities of Rhyl and Prestatyn for these potential closures," it added.

"This situation is not of Clwyd Leisure's making, had Denbighshire County Council listened to our request that the funding be maintained we would not be in this position. It is extremely unfortunate that our customers and local communities are now likely to suffer and jobs will be lost due to the action/inaction of the council."

Denbighshire council said: "It's come as quite a shock to see the Clwyd Leisure press release, and we will consider our response in full over the weekend. Given what the company has said, we will be responding accurately and fully at a press briefing on Monday morning."

For the sake of North Wales tourism, it is to be hoped that all of this is just a bit of posturing. With the fine summer just gone, the area, like so many others throughout Britain has recorded positive visitor figures. It would be a shame if all of the ground that has been gained was now lost by a dispute that could have been avoided.