Leisure site ideal

I know he claims to be a councillor for Arun District Council, and cabinet member for leisure. He also claims to ‘represent all of the district’s residents, not just the few that live near the current centre’ (Littlehampton Swimming and Sports Centre).

That is a realistic claim, but has he actually asked any of the residents of Arun, regardless of where they live in the district, about their thoughts and feelings about this latest trampling on of local facilities? I believe not.

Where is the public meeting or balloting of local people? Or has it already taken place in some dark, locked room, away from the annoying prying eyes and vocal tongues of the local residents that Mr Dendle represents?

Most residents would probably say that, yes, the current site needs updating, rebuilding even, to show a state-of-the-art, shiny new cost effective facility that can be enjoyed and used by locals and holidaymakers alike. Most people, however, would probably say ‘why relocate?’

The current site is ideal. You can use the facilities, visit the beach, go to Mewsbrook Park, ride the mini-railway, play pitch and putt, go to Harbour Park and get anything from an ice cream to a full three-course meal, all within a few hundred yards. A ’fully loaded’ day out, ideal for locals and holidaymakers. If the leisure centre is somewhere the other side of Lyminster crossing, how is that making it more accessible?

The only plausible reason must be the prime site that the centre currently sits on. I’m sure it would bring in a substantial amount of money and would make those in power, including Mr Dendle, very happy and self-satisfied to see high value properties built on the site.

I would just like to add that I would not know Mr Dendle if I passed him in the street. I’m not one of the select few that live close by and I’m not one of ‘the older users that think they have the perfect centre’. I am quite simply a local resident who doesn’t like to be patronised and treated as either naïve, stupid or, worst of all, uninterested in my local facilities!

Rachael Howard

North Street

Littlehampton

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