Tempers flared between councillors on Thursday 14 March as they voted on the replacement design for the Kingfisher leisure centre.

The new £44.9m plan was given the go-ahead by all councillors present on Thursday evening's committee meeting, although a number of concerns were raised.

Among them were a series of comments from Conservative Cllr Ian George regarding a recent Lib Dem press release, which claimed the previous £79.5m plans – nearly £35m over budget – were due to the national Conservative government's "economic turmoil".

The site of the old Kingfisher Leisure Centre in 2023 (Photo: Charlotte Lillywhite/LDRS)

"There's no mention of the poor management by the Liberal Democrats: a decision to knock down [the Kingfisher] without knowing whether you could afford to replace it, or where the money was coming from," said Cllr George. 

"It was clear from the decision that it was taken for political reasons, so you could say 'oh, a new pool is just around the corner,' when you had no idea if that was going to be the case."

He continued: "We told you, and you refused to listen, and you paid the price, and quite frankly, the residents of Kingston are paying the price for that as well."

The councillor described the release of the Lib Dem statement the day before the committee meeting as "an attempt to wash your hands of all blame".

Cllr George went on to vote for the current leisure centre design after warning the council "I hope you can do what you say you're going to do".

Liberal Democrat Cllr John Sweeny became the Leisure Portfolio Holder in 2020, less than a year after the Kingfisher closed its doors over a £5m roof repair bill.

He defended the council's actions, saying the Kingfisher "wasn't fit for purpose. There was a huge bill just to fix the roof, but with many more, many more states of repairs to come: mechanical, electrical, [the] swimming pool".

There were 'many more states of repairs to come' for the Kingfisher says Cllr John Sweeny (Photo: Kingston Council)

Cllr Sweeny went on the offensive, saying "The Tories were told that the [Kingfisher] was end of life: they did nothing.

"Their only plan was to look at relocating it, reducing the number of leisure centres in the council area – shutting down the Kingfisher, and moving a new leisure centre to Kingsmeadow, which was unsuitable given its not very good transport links there.

"Leisure services are not safe in Conservative hands."

In response to the delays to the original 2024 launch date, Cllr Sweeny said he would be "telling residents that it's coming, please be patient. We'd love it to be quicker, but it's moving as quickly as possible."

Cllr Alison Holt, deputy leader of the council and current portfolio holder for leisure followed Cllr Sweeny, saying "I don't think we can deny that there was some economic chaos caused by things that were happening in central government [...] that is the situation we were in".

She added: "I think that is the right thing to be doing for the residents because they are wanting us to spend the money well, but they also want us to deliver a leisure centre," assuring councillors that "we have got good people in the room looking at this".

Also present at the committee meeting was Jon Tolley, an ex-Lib Dem councillor who stepped down over the handling of the Kingfisher replacement by the council.

However Mr Tolley praised the current council's handling of drop-in feedback sessions regarding the new leisure centre design, while also raising concerns over the contingency funds in the project's budget.

"I think the new team seems to be something that fills me with confidence, I think the new portfolio holder is someone that fills me with more confidence," said Mr Tolley.

"I hated how we got to this point, but from where we are right now, I wish you all the very best."

The council now must wait for more detailed designs to be made before they vote on whether construction can commence, with the £2.59m contract being granted to current construction partner Alliance Leisure.