Community Group Coalville CAN has written an open letter to North West Leicestershire District Council ahead of Tuesday's meeting to decide the future of the former Hermitage Leisure Centre.

The council Cabinet will consider comments about the Whitwick building from this month's Community Security meeting.

At that meeting, a motion to allow the part of building to be used by the local community was narrowly defeated.

The council's recommendation is that it should be demolished and the site used for affordable housing or retired people's homes.

It has been estimated by the council that it would cost more than £2million to renovate the former leisure centre.

Coalville CAN has been campaigning to be allowed to use the building as community hub in Whitwick.

Now, the organisation has released the open letter which reads:

"The decision regarding the future of the previous Leisure Centre building and local asset on the Hermitage Recreation Ground will be made by you, our elected leaders on Tuesday 20th September at a Cabinet meeting. 

"The scrutiny committee met on 7th September. The role was to comment and advise.

"The strength of feeling was such that a motion in support of retaining much of the building and for working with a community organisation was put to the meeting.

"This vote was lost on the casting vote of the Chair of the committee.

"The people who voted in favour of keeping some of the building and making use of it, were those who had visited the site to see the building for themselves.

"CAN are disappointed that the decision appeared to be made along party lines rather than the independent judgement of councillors. 

"We would like to thank and support Whitwick Parish Council which commissioned an independent report from local respected architects that concluded there was a viable option for the existing building, and that the community should be given the opportunity to achieve the council's own vision, as described in their proposal.

"We would also like to thank Castle Rock School students and all the people that signed to support them at the various events we attended over the last year.

"The Council has the discretion to make decisions for the wider social, environmental, and economic benefit of the community and has done so before.

"We are disappointed that this seems not to be the case this time.

"The decision to demolish the existing building before the end of its useful life would appear to go against the current policy of the Council on the environment, including not calculating the carbon impact of destruction of the building as part of the decision making.

"This may be surprising as the Council's zero carbon road map, approved previously by the Cabinet, states: "Regeneration activity will consider zero carbon implications on all projects" 

"There is still time for the Cabinet and Councillors to lead for the benefit of the community.   

"We urge the councillors to consider the following: 

1. To seriously consider the proposed option of partial demolition. This has been demonstrated as viable and has been costed by a respected local architect and consultant working to an independent brief 
2. To disconnect the use of land for housing from the decision to take down or retain the building 
3. To carry out a credible feasibility study on the community's role in the future of the Hermitage Recreation Ground."

The building has been vacant and boarded up since February when the new Whitwick & Coalville Leisure Centre was opened.