ALTON & District Sports Council is “once again reaching a crisis situation” and is urging the public to speak up about the town’s new sports centre.

Sports council chairman Brian Scowcroft spoke this week of being “kept in the dark” about the proposed new sports centre on Chawton Park Road and fears plans are moving forward without sufficient public consultation.

As such, he is inviting the public to the sports council’s meeting at 7.30pm next Wednesday, September 28, at Chawton Park Indoor Bowls Club.

“If we do not stand strong we will not have any say in the new sports centre,” he added. “We are the main user and need to be united in our approach.”

Outline permission for a new sports centre, set to be built next to the current one, which will then be demolished, was granted by East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) planners in September last year.

But since then things seem to have “gone quiet”. EHDC insists that wheels are still moving in the right direction and said the apparent silence is due to commercial confidentiality with would-be developers.

But in a letter sent out to town and district organisations, councils and sports clubs, the sports council explained that the outline permission seems “on the face of it” to be “good news”.

“But there is the potential that Alton town and the surrounding villages might not get what it needs or wants,” the letter adds.

Although the district council undertook some public engagement prior to the outline application’s publication, the letter speaks of there being “no mass consultation” with any sporting bodies or current centre users.

By December, EHDC hopes to have a partner in place to develop and run the replacement centre in Alton, as well as a new sports centre in Bordon and the revamped Taro Leisure Centre in Petersfield.

When this happens, the district council will be able to let the public have their say again.

But as the project snowballs, there are concerns that the council doesn’t yet have a clear enough picture of what is needed.

“You could dismiss all this as scaremongering,” Alton &?District Sports Council’s letter adds. “Or you could trust that EHDC will get it right so that Alton town and surrounding districts will get a sports centre that is large enough to cater for the anticipated population increase in the town and the surrounding villages as well as accommodating the large amount of presumed different sports played in the town and surrounding areas.

“The key word in the above paragraph is ‘presumed’. There is no single authority or organisation that knows, in detail, what sports or recreational activities are being played or run in the area, where they are being played or who to contact to ask questions.

“Ideally, the Alton District Sports Council is in the best position to pool this information and act as conduit for EHDC, the town council, and to represent individual sports so that there is one clear voice to speak for sport and recreation in the town – be it the sports centre or other sporting matters.”

Dating from the 1970s, the current sports centre is felt to be well past its best before date, with long-term calls for a replacement finally getting real traction last year.

The district council has outlined the significant design restraints facing a developer, not least the continuity of sports provision. This means the current building will remain operational right up until the opening day of the new one.

Also, the retention of Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre, Alton Tennis Club, re-provision of outdoor pitches and the neighbouring properties all have to be taken into account.

In the application’s design and access statement, EHDC list key stakeholders, including Hampshire County Council, Alton Town Council, Places for People Leisure, Cardiac Rehabilitation Centre and sports centre users.

“These consultants, groups and individuals have provided advice, guidance and information that have directly informed the development of the illustrative masterplan and outline planning application,” a spokesman for EHDC added.

“The new sports centre will help to achieve Alton’s objective of providing a modern new sporting hub for the town and the wider region. The centre will provide sport, leisure and community facilities that will benefit the whole community.”

An EHDC spokesman clarified the council’s position again this week.

“We are currently undertaking a procurement exercise to appoint a partner who will work with us from April 2017, when our current management contract with People for Places Leisure expires,” he added.

“The partner will manage the council’s leisure facilities and help us deliver new centres in Alton and Whitehill and Bordon and also refurbish the Taro Leisure Centre in Petersfield.

“This procurement exercise is commercially restricted, which means we cannot engage in public consultation during the process. However, the council is aiming to have completed the process and made a decision on a new partner by December.”