Councillors are calling for urgent action to be taken after a leisure centre was forced to close due to the financial pressures caused by the pandemic.

Willowbrook Leisure Centre is located in the Ladygrove area of Didcot and was built in 2002. In December 2020, the building closed and management company Soll, returned the keys to Didcot Town Council who own the building.

Since the closure, the council has had to hold the building while being unable to open the facilities due to the national Covid restrictions. However, now leisure centre openings are on the horizon with facilities being able to open from April 12. However, it cannot open as it does not have a leisure provider to manage the premises.

In February, the council invited the public to help determine the future of Willowbrook with a public consultation.

Read also: Play2Give head shave challenge for lung cancer research

Didcot town councillors Victoria Haval, David Rouane, Paul Giesberg and Phil Davies have written an open letter to the Didcot Town Council Leader asking for urgent action to be taken to reopen the leisure centre.

In the open letter it suggests the council’s own road map to re-opening the building is not clear to either the residents or town councillors representing the Ladygrove area. The councillors want to be involved in the decisions about the future of the Willowbrook building and they want “good quality” information to be given to decision making committees. The councillors also called for a "clear timetable" to monitor the progress of the leisure centre and for the matter to be treated with "urgency".

Didcot Town Council Leader, Mocky Khan replied to the letter and said he was "surprised" by the allegations. He highlighted there was an Extraordinary Council Meeting in December, social media statements and discussions about Willowbrook at Finance and General Purposes Committee. He explained further maintenance work needs to be done before the building is safe for the public and gave a timeline to the councillors.

He added: "As you are aware the financial position and impact of the pandemic has severely impacted DTC and we must find sensible and realistic solutions that are not just driven by what will look good publicly in advance of an election but what is the best long term for DTC and the community."

Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

For news updates straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.

Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on news@nqo.com or 01865 425 445.