Kingston councillors have voted to demolish the town's Kingfisher Leisure Centre.

The Council's planning committee passed a motion to knock down the building at a meeting last night (Wednesday 1 September).

The Kingfisher has been closed since 2019 due to structural issues with the roof.

The Council's planning team recommended the demolition.

They say the town will be provided with a new leisure centre and this will be a condition if the land ends up being sold.

But the decision has been met with criticism by local residents and councillors.

At the meeting last night Conservative Councillor David Cunningham proposed a counter-motion against it.

He said wasn't confident the centre would be replaced with a new facility for the community.

Other councillors on the committee responded that they could not be sure it would be able to be re-opened and wanted to avoid delays to a replacement.

The community group Save Royal Kingston has also slammed the plans.

The group have submitted an application to secure the centre as an Asset of Community Value.

Their application will be decided by the Council later this month.

Kingston resident Caroline Shah, who opposes the decision, revealed that Sport England are also objecting to the demolition.

In her blog she sharedan email from the organisation stating that there is a lack of concrete plans to replace the centre and not enough evidence showing it isn't required for the community.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Jon Tolley, who is not on the planning committee, posted his reaction on Twitter.

"The only real decision was whether or not there's confidence in a replacement being delivered. other objections are mostly immaterial on a planning level," he wrote.

But, he added, "I almost think we're over committed to the replacement.

"The new scheme now looks like £40m+ and only deliverable by selling multiple council assets, which I think will sell under value cos we need the sale so quick."

The Council states on the Kingfisher's website that: "The Kingfisher Leisure Centre was closed in December 2019 due to urgent repair works.

"As Kingston Council looked more closely at the necessary repairs, it became clear that they were much more extensive than we initially thought.

"That's why the council has taken the decision to use this opportunity to transform the old leisure centre building into a brand new, more sustainable, and fully accessible community leisure facility for Kingston residents to use and enjoy for generations to come."

Click here to see Kingston Council's plans for the new leisure centre.

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