THE future of three leisure centres in Flintshire remains uncertain.
Dual-use centres at Connah’s Quay High School, Castell Alun in Hope and St David’s High School in Saltney are set to stay open to the public during out of school hours, during weekends and in school holidays, despite initial proposals to close them to the public due to cuts in Flintshire Council’s leisure services budget.
But agreements between the schools and the council on the running of the centres have yet to finalised more than six months after the measures were revealed to reduce an overspend.
Council bosses had hoped to reach an agreement by the end of the financial year for the transfer of control from the local authority to the schools.
Cllr Bernie Attridge, a governor at Connah’s Quay High School, said the school was waiting for financial information before making a decision.
He said: “As governors we are there to protect the education of the children. We need to make sure it is viable. Until we get the information we won’t be able to make a decision.”
All of the county’s nine leisure centres are subsidised costing taxpayers £3m a year.
If school governing bodies cannot come to an agreement with the county, Flintshire Council has said it could step in and run the sites.
Cost-cutting plans had been the subject of a council call-in before amended plans were passed.
A spokesman for Flintshire Council said: “Negotiations with the three high schools are ongoing.”
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