Causeway Coast and Glens Council to look into possibility of senior citizens' rates at leisure centres

At this month’s Leisure and Development Committee meeting, TUV Councillor Allister Kyle proposed that officers prepare a membership concession proposal, to “reiterate its support towards our senior citizens and their health and wellbeing”.

“Council currently offer no concession with regards to a monthly membership, yet other councils offer this,” Cllr Kyle said. “There is only a reduced option for daily tickets or pay-as -you -go admissions.

“With the high preponderance of senior citizens across the borough and the many proven advantages associated with physical exercise, this is a concession we should seriously consider.

“Leisure centres and neighbouring areas offer concessions, and surely a reduction in membership fees for seniors would not only bring more members but offer more substantial revenue to the council coffers, as there is likely to be an increase in uptake.

“I think we do not want to be viewed as a council who ignores and is discriminative towards their elderly.”

DUP Councillor Darryl Wilson said he “commended the spirit” of Cllr Kyle’s proposal, but argued that the “necessity and the cost implications” of concessions for seniors would have to be carefully assessed by council.

“I know a number of senior citizens already use our facilities,” he added. “I would use the Joey Dunlop Centre five or six mornings a week, and at that time there are senior citizens utilising the fantastic facilities.

“Everybody wants a bargain but quite often they say to me ‘isn’t it fantastic what we have here, for what we pay?’ so we need a detailed cost-benefit analysis.”

UUP Councillor Richard Holmes said that, if the borough’s leisure centres were operating at a profit, members could “possibly entertain” the proposal.

“But big leisure centres lose more than half a million pounds a year,” he said.

“I wouldn’t even spend much time doing analysis, because all it’s going to do is decrease the already meagre income and increase the losses in those leisure centres.

“If they were making a lot of money we could look at it, but they’re not, so I wouldn’t go further with it at this stage.”

Director of Leisure and Development, Pat Mulvenna, suggested that officers return a report on current operating costs and currently-running concessions for other groups at all centres.

She concluded: “It is quite a complex picture, so if we came back with those details for you to peruse, we could at that point decide if we want it to do any more work on this issue.”