A LEISURE trust should be formed to cover the whole of East Lancashire to save money, according to a council leader.

Uniting all six boroughs under one umbrella would benefit from joint management and purchasing power, said Pendle’s Coun Joe Cooney.

Neighbouring Burnley is considering proposals over whether to establish a trust to oversee the running of the borough’s St Peter’s and Padiham leisure centres.

And plans have been drawn up for a new replacement leisure centre for Waves in Blackburn, through a partnership between the borough council there and Blackburn College. Hyndburn, Pendle and Rossendale already operate their own leisure trusts – though Ski Rossendale was recently hived off to a social enterprise company.

Coun Cooney said leisure centre members were already able to use each others facilities through the Active Network. He said: “The next sensible step is to look at joint management.

“We all want to protect our leisure facilities and, by coming together, we could do just that.

“It’s a shame that some of my fellow leaders are more concerned about what name is above the door of their facilities, rather than saving their residents money and ensuring the long-term future of their pools, gyms and theatres.”

Hyndburn Leisure Trust runs The Civic in Oswaldtwistle as well as leisure centres and community halls but its counterpart in Rossendale is primarily sports-based.

The remit of Pendle Leisure Trust is wider still as it not only runs sports centres in Nelson, Colne and Barnoldswick but also manages the ACE Centre and Colne Muni. Ribblesdale Pool in Clitheroe is run by Ribble Valley Council.