‘Lessons need to be learned’

It’s been argued lessons need to be learned on the upkeep of Peele Leisure Centre or it faces losing more customers.

The delay in repairing volleyball posts there led to it being referred to South Holland District Council’s Performance and Monitoring Panel.
Its meeting last week was told that there had been a ‘breakdown in communication’ between operators Parkwood and University Academy Long Sutton, the latter of which, the council say, is responsible for the upkeep of equipment.
South Holland District Council’s Rachel Rowett told the meeting the post had broken in March but a temporary fix had only just been installed.
“It was a breakdown in the communication chain,” she said. “We held a meeting in June that was very positive and a way forward was agreed including repair and maintenance schemes.
“Volleyball has been reinstated using temporary posts and the school is looking to replace them on a more permanent basis.”
Coun David Wilkinson said: “There was just no sense of urgency. There was a lack of communication with the people who enquired. It was just very poor. Yes, the volleyballers were offered to play at Spalding but it’s a Long Sutton group that’s been there 35 years. They didn’t want to have to travel to Spalding.
“It’s been resolved now but the amount of time it took to keep chasing was unacceptable.”
Coun Chris Brewis added: “We need to treat it a damn site more seriously than it has been up to now.
“It’s people’s local place otherwise its large population will look to go to Wisbech or King’s Lynn.”
The panel’s chairman Coun Bryan Alcock (pictured) said: “There’s a lot to be learned from this.
“The academy should have agreed to do it earlier and the leisure contracts are there to be enforced.
“We don’t seem to be doing that.
“The reasons given for the delay seem to be plausible but there needed to be more urgency, particularly from a commercial organisation.
“We expect the contract to be enforced much more stringently and the timescale involved in these things as short as possible.”