The Friends of Albion Leisure Centre are ordinary members of the public who came together after Conservative-controlled Erewash Borough Council voted to close this much-loved Ilkeston centre in February 2008 after a Council Executive meeting where this item took less than 4 minutes to rubber stamp.
After a petition with over 5400 signatures was presented to Erewash Borough Council in May 2008, they went ahead and closed it anyway in August 2008.The Council then decided to allow interested parties to bid for the lease of the Albion Leisure Centre building. This we did and our business plan can be found in the Downloads section of our website.
Our bid to turn the building into a People’s Community Centre was submitted in time, following all of the Council's procedures and was accepted by the then Director of Culture and Leisure, Paul Hogan.
Our Group was initially offered a 2 year lease but after we raised concerns, Paul Hogan had discussions with the Council's Corporate Management Team and the Chief Executive, Jeremy Jaroszek and came back with an improved offer of a 3 year lease with annual reviews which we accepted and were looking forward to signing the lease and taking possession of the building in January 2009.
In February 2009, our Group received a letter from the Director of Development and Regulatory Services, Sue Blakeley withdrawing the offer of the lease with no valid reason given. The Group is devastated by this decision and we need your help!
Site currently under construction!
