Last night, Monday 6 February 2023, six Rutland Councillors hosted a meeting with 70 members of the general public, plus more accessing the meeting on Zoom, about the future of Catmose Sports Centre.

Following the announcement on 26 January that the centre would be closing to the public on 31 March this year, members of the gym, as well as casual users and concerned parents whose children access the centre, shared their outrage on social media and with Rutland Councillors.

As such, Rutland County Council opted to host a meeting with concerned members of the public, allocating spaces on a first come first served basis.

The points made by the Councillors in attendance - Council Leader Lucy Stephenson, Cllr Karen Payne, Cllr Rosemary Powell, Cllr Marc Oxley, Cllr David Wilby and Cllr Samantha Harvey, as well as other Council officials - were met with resistance.

The public attendance reached full capacity. Image credit: Nub News.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the public staged a mass exit as Cllr Stephenson made her closing statement.

Read more here.

One attendee also promised that RCC 'haven't heard the last of this' and that she, alongside other members, intended on bringing a local petition to save the centre to the full council.

Find out more here.

Subsequently, Together4Rutland have released a statement promising that they would help to 'find a better solution' than was tabled at last night's meeting.

The team, comprising of Cllrs June Fox, Nick Begy and Paul Ainsley, said: "Together4Rutland would like to give many thanks and congratulations to all that attended the meeting last night and put forward their views so eloquently. Particular thanks to the very brave who reencountered their own struggles and told of the help that Catmose Sports Center had given them.

"We would like to work with you to help find a better solution than the one that was tabled last night.

"We will urgently work with fellow minded councillors to get a better outcome to this terrible situation that residents are now facing."