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An open letter sent to a district council urging it to support the future of leisure centres in Sevenoaks and Edenbridge has gathered more than 100 signatures.
The letter was handed to Sevenoaks District Council ahead of a meeting this evening which will decide whether Sencio, the company that runs two leisure centres on behalf of the council, will be given additional funding to help it recover from Covid-19.
This comes after councillors turned down Sencio's appeal for a £120,000 bail-out loan last month.
The company, which also runs Lullingstone Golf Course near Orpington and White Oak Leisure Centre in Swanley, asked for the money to help cover monthly outgoings it still had to pay despite being closed and having no income.
At the time, councillors on the people and places committee did not support the request raising concern over its ability to repay the loan.
Now the letter is urging the council to reconsider. It has been signed by Olympian and Sevenoaks resident, Thomas Bosworth, Team GB swimmer Jakob Goodman, more than 30 schools and, a range of sports clubs.
It said: “The services provided by Sencio are about much more than opening the doors to leisure facilities and a golf course. Its staff, management and community partners have, over the past 16 years, provided tens of thousands of local people with a place that is part of the very fabric of their lives.
“We live in one of the most affluent parts of the country. For Sevenoaks District Council to fail to adequately support the provision of not-for-profit leisure services on its doorstep – and in buildings it owns but which have been left to Sencio to manage and upkeep with virtually no income for almost four months – is hugely disappointing.”
“It’s time to decide what type of leisure provision we want in Sevenoaks, now and in the months and years ahead – and before it’s too late.”
At the time, a Sevenoaks council spokesman said: "We appreciate the difficulties experienced by Sencio as a result of the coronavirus outbreak and we are committed to ensuring the ongoing provision of leisure and wellbeing services across our District.
"Our People and Places Advisory Committee carefully considered the request for an additional £120,000 loan and the extra support we have provided up to now, including paying the annual £26,950 management fee up front and providing a six-month payment holiday on an existing £600,000 loan, equating to £44,000.
"The committee recommended that we continue to offer further financial assistance by deferring loan repayments, but not to support the request for a further loan due to the amount of money already committed to Sencio and the ability for the funding to be repaid as well as the financial challenges that coronavirus is likely to have on our own finances."
The final decision will be made in a meeting at 7pm this evening.
