Tim Warren
B&NES Council leader Tim Warren promised the new Keynsham leisure centre would include a sports hall and spectator seating for the swimming pool when he appeared on BBC Radio Bristol last week.
Last Thursday’s John Darvall show saw the council leader in the hot seat and answering some hostile questioning from his host and callers to the station on a range of issues from the 2% council tax precept for adult social care to the east Bath Park and Ride.
When Lindsey Allen from Oldland Common accused the council of already agreeing a contract with leisure provider GLL for the new Keynsham Leisure Centre which would not have certain facilities, he made some very interesting revelations.
His first response confirmed what his Conservative colleague Martin Veal had said at the Keynsham Town Council meeting a week earlier – that the council would “make sure there were adequate facilities” in Keynsham. When pressed by John Darvall, he went on to confirm that these would include a dry sports hall and spectator seating, claiming the council was not previously aware of the level of competitive swimming that took place in Keynsham.
Both caller and radio host pressed further over the squash courts but the B&NES Council leader managed to bat that particular question away.
When challenged over the size of the three sites shortlisted in the initial consultation with Keynsham residents in September, Mr Warren admitted that the previously favoured option of Ashton Way was probably no longer viable.
You can read more on his interview in this week’s issue (No. 400) which is out tomorrow.
