May 17th, 2017
Save Ongar Leisure Centre
By Rachel Whalley
Ongar is about to lose its only leisure centre. The council want to knock it down to make way for just a handful of homes. Thousands of children have learned to swim in the centre’s pool and without a leisure centre on their doorstep, many people will be forced to travel miles just to keep fit.
At the moment the plans to demolish the centre aren’t set in stone. And we’ve got a chance to make sure that Epping Forest District Council keep this vital facility open before the plans to close it are rubber-stamped in Westminster.
A group of local people have set up a campaign to save the centre – and almost 2,000 people have already signed their petition. If thousands more of us add our voices, we can show the council just how much this centre means to the community – and convince them to keep it open.
The plans to close the centre are already making waves in the press. More and more people are having a say: from Louise who has seen her children learn how to swim at the centre, to Sheila who thinks closing it “would be another nail in the coffin for Ongar, too many amenities and green spaces have been lost already”.
Time and time again, 38 Degrees members have stood up for the issues that matter to our communities – and won. Right here in Ongar, hundreds of us convinced the council to build a new crossing outside a retirement home on Ongar Road. And in Shortley Bridge near Durham 38 Degrees members stopped their council’s plans to build new homes on a local wildlife site.
Will you sign the petition before the decision about Ongar leisure centre’s future slips out of our hands?
