MIDDLEWICH’s mayor has dubbed Cheshire East Council’s (CEC) leisure service consultation ‘embarrassing’.

CEC is currently exploring new ways of delivering its leisure services to ensure they remain sustainable and offers residents the best value for money, with a four week public consultation currently underway.

In October, councillors agreed to pay consultants £30,000 to review the future of its 15 leisure centres, which includes Middlewich’s leisure centre on St Ann’s Walk.

The authority, which currently invests £9m into its leisure centres each year, has drawn up a list of options to reduce the cost to tax payers while ensuring leisure and health opportunities continue to play an important role in the lives of residents and wider communities.

Options include forming a charitable trust, transferring elements of the service to town or parish councils, forming a separate legal entity, and tendering services to the private sector or existing trust.

Clr Janet Clowes, cabinet member for health and adult social care, said: “We realise leisure services play an important role in keeping our communities fit and healthy, ensuring people live well for longer.

“This is especially important at a time when local authorities are taking on responsibility for public health.

“We are confident that a third party organisation would be able to deliver leisure services in a more efficient and targeted way, leading to improved services that will also increase health benefits.”

But Middlewich town mayor clr Simon McGrory says the consultation, which runs until April 19, has been scheduled at the wrong time.

He said: “This attempt at consulting is embarrassing – this is not the way to consult with anybody.

“To hold a consultation for only four weeks on such a massive issue, especially when two of those weeks form the Easter holiday period, is an appalling way to treat both us as members and the public at large.

“I would like this consultation to be for at least three months with a public event at each venue explaining what these options could possibly mean for the locality it serves.

“That is fair and reasonable and in the spirit of getting everybody up to speed and enabling people to respond on a well informed basis.”

The Middlewich centre has an artificial pitch, fitness suite and sports hall.

To have your say on the delivery of leisure services, visit cheshireeast.gov.uk/leisureoptions The deadline for feedback is noon on Friday, April 19.