South Wales Evening Post - 29 January 2008
Swansea taxpayers could be subsidising the city's flagship leisure centre to the tune of £1million a year.
The figure has been released by Swansea Council just days after the Post revealed visitors to the pool will havestump up as much as £7 per visit to the centre's waterpark, known as The Edge.
Bosses at Bay Leisure, the not-for- profit company running the LC, will receive the cash from Swansea Council to help fund the running costs of the£32 million centre.
A Swansea Council spokesman said: "The council's subsidy to the LC is actually lower than the subsidy given to the former Swansea Leisure Centre and is a significant saving for council tax payers in Swansea.
"During the year that led up to the former leisure centre's closure in 2003, Swansea Council's budget for subsidy to the former leisure centre was £1.5 million.
"We're working with Bay Leisure to confirm the final annual subsidy figure to the LC which is estimated at approximately £1 million.
"This is an approximation because The LC is a new facility with no direct comparison."
The LC will open in just over a month, replacing the city's popular old centre, which closed in 2003.
It will include the indoor waterpark, complete with a network of pools, water rides, slides and surf machine, a multi- purpose sports and exhibition hall and Wales's biggest fitness arena.
And bosses hope the centre will become a popular destination for Swansea residents, as well as attracting tourists to the city.
The announcement that admission charges for The Edge will be as high as £7 has provoked an outcry from Swansea politicians and residents alike, although residents will be able to get a card entitling them to a £1 discount.
Many Post readers have contacted our website - www.thisisswansea.co.uk - to vent their fury.
Tim Coulson, from Swansea, said: "The cost of entry to The LC may well be comparable with the price of a cinema ticket, but I haven't already paid once to build the Vue cinema through my council tax."
However, city resident Sam Monk said: "I would rather pay £6 to use the new LC than the old one. Maybe if the council had not let it get in such a state in the first place then we would not be here now moaning."
On Saturday, more than 1,000 people signed up to a Labour group petition against the admission charges.
As well as giving residents a discount, LC bosses also announced youngsters will be able to use the facility for as little as £3 per visit.
The petition was launched as opposition parties hit out at the charge, with the leaders of Labour and Plaid in Swansea reacting angrily to the news.
