A motion to allow charitable groups and Whitwick Parish Council to use part of the former Hermitage Leisure Centre was defeated at an extraorindary scrutiny meeting in Coalville last night (Wednesday).

The committee meeting was deferred from June with the intention of providing recommendations to put to North West Leicestershire District Council's Cabinet later this month.

A two-hour meeting saw various options discussed, with the council saying the leisure centre building should be demolished to make way for affordable housing while maintaining the use of the Hermitage Recreation Ground.

The meeting was told that the now empty and boarded up building was costing the council £17,500 a month to maintain.

It was closed in February when the new Whitwick & Coalville Leisure Centre opened to the public.

Councillors also heard that the cost of renovating the centre for community use would cost in the region of £2.1million.

However, Whitwick Parish Council says it was able to do its own costings which came to £80,000.

The Hermitage Leisure Centre before its closure in February

But Paul Wheatley, head of the council's Property & Regeneration, said that the council's professional assessment was the one that should be taken into account.

This angered some councillors who felt they were being denied the opportunity to scrutinise the figures.

But Mr Wheatley said that the council's proposal to demolish the building would not lead to the land being sold off and would be retained for council services.

A number of councillors felt that community ownership was the way forwards in terms of the building's future use.

The Coalville CAN group has long campaigned to be allowed to use the building for activities for local youngsters and the setting up of a community cafe.

However, it was argued that the most economical solution would be to knock the centre down.

Mr Wheatley said that a partial demolition of the building - getting rid of the 'wet' part of the building which housed the swimming pool - would cost £800,000 leaving the building worth less at £750,000.

The cost of demolishing the building would be in the region of £300,000.

The complexities of the arguments were highlighted and reflected in the debate.

But Cllr John Geary put forward a motion towards the end of the meeting which was seconded by Cllr Michael Wyatt.

However, a recorded vote resulted in a split five for and five against.

The casting vote went with the committee chair, Cllr Jim Hoult, who voted against the motion.

All comments from the meeting will now go before the council's Cabinet on September 20.

But the council believes the only workable option is to completely demolish the building