Single leisure trust for Burnley and Pendle?

Coun. Cooney, himself a former employee of Pendle Leisure Trust, has called for the establishment of a single trust covering the whole of the area.

And he accused some councils of being more concerned about the name over the door of facilities than saving money for council tax payers.

If Coun. Cooney’s idea bears fruit, a single trust covering Pendle, Burnley, Hyndburn, Rossendale, Ribble Valley and Blackburn with Darwen would be set up.

At the moment, Pendle, Hyndburn and Rossendale have separate trusts to look after leisure and arts facilities, each with its own management structure, policies, aims and objectives.

Coun. Cooney said: “I believe if all the authorities formed one leisure trust to take over the running of all facilities, we could recognise some real savings.

“Our residents can already use facilities across all the boroughs thanks to the Active Network. The next sensible step is to look at joint management.

“We all want to protect our leisure facilities and by coming together we could do just that.

“It is a shame that some fellow leaders are more concerned about what name is above the door of their facilities rather than saving their residents money and ensuring the long term future of their pools, gyms and theatres.”