CHANGES to the Borough Council’s Leisure Services have been announced.
On December 1, Rubicon Leisure will take over the running of some of the leisure services previously run by the council.
These include the Palace Theatre, Abbey Stadium, Pitcheroak Golf Course, Forge Mill Needle Museum and Bordesley Abbey, as well as four of the town’s community centres.
Rubicon Leisure is the Borough Council’s owned, not-for-profit ‘Local Authority Trading Company’, which will operate the services from December.
The news has sparked lots of interest by residents on social media.
The Council’s Portfolio Holder for Leisure & Cultural Services, Coun Mike Rouse, said: “It’s natural that change can be unsettling for some people and it’s easy for rumours to spread on social media, so we want to provide some reassurance and answers.
“This is a new way of working and it’s going to take some getting used to.
“It’s the first arms-length trading company this council has set up, which is a model put together to meet the wishes of those who took part in the council’s most-responded survey on the topic over a year ago.”
Coun Rouse (Con, Church Hill) believes it’s not about cutting services and ‘price hikes’ as some have speculated but rather about protecting the ‘jewels in Redditch’s crown during tough economic times’.
He added: “As a father to a young family myself we use the facilities just like many other families across the Borough and I have to say we are all excited about the future with better facilities and a more joined up approach.”
To find out more head to www.redditchbc.gov.uk/rubiconleisure
