STADIUM COSTS SOAR TO ALMOST £1,000 PER DAY!

7.59.38pm BST (GMT +0100) Mon 6th Aug 2007

The subsidy cost that local council tax payers now have to pay-out to keep Cannock Athletics Stadium open has rocketed to £970 per day and that is every day of the year! It is a subsidy paid by residents from Rugeley, Hednesford and indeed all parts of the Chase District, not just Cannock. The Stadium is used by the Cannock and Stafford Athletics Club, which has members from the Cannock Chase and Stafford and from other areas outside the Chase district. The Athletics club use the stadium twice a week for practices and four times per year for competitive events.

The football pitch in the centre of the athletics track is also used by the local football association for some of its competition finals, but they have previously indicated that this is only because Hednesford Town FC have in the past been unable to guarantee them dates at Keys Park.

TOTAL SUBSIDY FOR LEISURE FACILITIES IS NOW OVER £7,400 EACH DAY!

The total cost of subsidising the Cannock's Prince of Wales Theatre, Chase Leisure Centre, Golf Course, and Stadium, together with the Museum in Hednesford and the new Leisure Centre in Rugeley is now more than £7,400 per day. Significantly the only facility where the subsidy was less than expected in last year's budget was Rugeley Leisure Centre. The explanation is quite simple and was in fact reported to the Council by Consultants taken on by Labour five years ago, before they were voted out of control of the Council. That report stated that the only way to reduce the subsidies was to increase the number of people paying to use the facilities and that could only be done by providing "bright, new, attractive facilities". The proof is already there, the new leisure centre in Rugeley attracts the customers while the other facilities are underused.

"PATCH AND MEND" IS MONEY DOWN THE DRAIN!!!

Labour Councillors have proposed a return to a Council policy of "patch and mend", spending over £6 million pounds on emergency and urgent repairs just to keep the old facilities safe enough to be kept open. The Liberal Democrats believe that this would prove to be money down the drain, as it would do nothing to increase the number of people paying to use the facilities and would still leave everyone having to pay nearly £3 million per year in subsidy through the council tax bills.

IT'S 2007! - ISN'T IT TIME TO STOP SETTLING FOR SECOND BEST?

The Liberal Democrats believe that the whole of the Chase District needs new facilities that people will want to use and that as a result the annual subsidy will be reduced. That is why the Council is now building a swimming pool in Rugeley and why they are planning for the Council to build a new theatre and leisure village Cannock and to spend £2 million pounds on leisure and recreation facilities in Hednesford.