A PETITION calling for a neglected sports centre in Bristol to be re-opened after lying derelict for two years has been placed online.
Campaigner Charlotte Leslie has launched the online petition in a bid to show the growing level of public support for the Robin Cousins Centre, in Avonmouth to be re-opened.
The petition calls on Bristol City Council to make the reopening of the Robin Cousins Centre a priority. It also calls on the council to resolve negotiations with the Highways Agency – which have hindered previous proposals to re-regenerate the centre – “with all speed”.
Anyone wishing to register their support for the campaign should visit http://epetitions.bristol.gov.uk and follow the instructions.
The online survey is the latest effort by Charlotte to press for the much maligned centre to be re-opened for the local community.
Charlotte, who is also the Prospective Conservative MP for Bristol North West, has already delivered more than 5,000 surveys and copies of the petition in the local community, to gauge support for the vital amenity.
Speaking at the launch of the online petition, Charlotte said:
“I have been overwhelmed by the reaction to my survey. The responses show that people in Avonmouth and Shirehampton have waited long enough to get their much needed sports facilities back. They want some action.
People deserve to have their voices heard, so now I am taking that call for action online.
Charlotte also recently secured the backing of Olympic gold-medallist Robin Cousins – after whom the centre is named – for the campaign.
The famous figure skater, who won a gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, spoke of his desire for the centre to be restored to give “the local community somewhere proud to call their own”.
The latest development comes amid suggestions that a deal to re-open the centre is being discussed.
An agreement between the Highways Agency and the council, could see the local authority pay £10,000 around for an access road to the site.
However, issues surrounding a legal dispute between the council and the Highways Authority could yet still cause problems in raising the £20,000 needed to repair the centre.
Charlotte said:
“The Highway Agency has made outrageous demands throughout the negotiations, which could still impede progress and I will be going to the highest level to hold them to account.”
“If we live in a society where an unelected QUANGO like the Highways Agency is allowed to calls the shots on whether a community can re-open its leisure facilities, something has gone badly wrong. And I intend to challenge that.”
