AN online petition to try and stop the closure of Ships and Castles leisure centre in Falmouth has passed the 2,000 signatures mark in just 24 hours after it was launched – and the figure is still rising.

Many of the signees have expressed their outrage that Cornwall Council is proposing to close the centre to avoid paying a £1.5 million maintenance bill.

Signing the petition Dianne Fincham said: “Falmouth and the surrounding area needs this Leisure centre. I, and all of my family are from Falmouth, most of my family still live there. What else have the children and people of Falmouth got!”

Pete Pasierb said: “There's a lot of other things going on besides just the pool and gymnasium. I was fortunate to be able to attend a series of cardio rehab classes there last year following open heart surgery.”

Oscar Peters in his submission said: “It's been here for ever, people here have grown up with it and would be devestated to see it go - also in a time where the government and councils are trying to get people involved in sports, closing down a swimming centre is completely counter-productive and hypocritical.”

While Christine Allen simply said: “We need these facilities in Cornwall.”

Cornwall Council's cabinet will debate three options next Wednesday: Closing the centre, paying a one off compensation claim of around £350,000 to operators Tempus Leisure and £100,000 a year in security and empty rates costs; keeping the centre open, without addressing the high risk of critical systems failure, at a cost of £722,000; or keeping the centre open, addressing the risk of critical systems failure, costing £1.549 million.

The council currently has £427,000 left in its maintenance budget, available for work at the centre, and there is a further £1.2m from a leisure budget underspend, which could see the full work completed, but that would leave no budget to address the maintenance backlog or any emergency issues that arise in any of the other leisure centres in the county.

A plan of the site drawn up recently highlights the land on which the centre sits, part of a large section of Pendennis headland owned by Cornwall Council, with a note valuing the site at £1.6 to £2.2 million for "an alternative use/ development."

However the council also recognises that the centre has over 194,000 visitors a year, and closure would be detrimental to Falmouth’s local schools, the 600 plus children using the swim school, and other local users, and that nearby centre's would not be able to take up the slack.

You can sign the petition at:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/123/389/764/keep-ships-and-castles-leisure-centre-open/