An indoor bowls club in Carlton is still “pushing” to be included in wider leisure centre redevelopment plans as the end of its lease nears.
Back in September 2025, the fate of Gedling Indoor Bowls Club was left vulnerable after Gedling Borough Council’s cabinet decided to no longer include the club in its plans to replace Carlton Forum Leisure Centre and the Richard Herrod site with a new building.
Under the plans, a new ‘Carlton Active’ leisure and community facility would be built on the Richard Herrod site, which could include an eight-lane swimming pool and teaching pool, a 100-station gym, community rooms and a café.
September’s cabinet meeting saw the authority offering “non-financial support” to the bowls club, due to financial reasons, to look at relocation options. Up until that point, the club had been included in redevelopment proposals.
The fight to keep the bowls facility included continued in November when a petition signed by more than 1,000 people was presented to councillors calling on the authority to “reinstate, retain and protect” indoor bowling in plans. The decision to respond to the petition was then deferred to a later cabinet meeting.
The council’s response to the petition was recently confirmed for a cabinet meeting on February 19, 2026.
Ian Summerscales, director of the bowls club, told the local democracy reporting service (LDRS) that the wait time until February’s meeting is “unnerving” but the club was still “pushing” to be included in the new centre.
He said: “That in itself is quite concerning because our lease expires on the 30th of April.
“If they’re making the final decision by February, it leaves no time to raise any sort of objection or do anything further to try to persuade them to change their plans.
“To be fair, [the council] did they they’d take on board the petition, but the decision’s going to be taken by their cabinet, effectively all [the majority Labour party]. We’re sceptical they’ll change their minds at all.”
The bowls club has previously questioned the council’s concerns over the financial viability of keeping it included in plans.
Speaking during November’s meeting, Councillor Henry Wheeler (Lab), portfolio holder for lifestyles, health and wellbeing, said a six-rink bowls facility would add between £5.6 million to £7.7 million to capital costs, leaving the authority a subsidy of around £500,000 a year.
Mr Summerscales told the LDRS: “They’ve got a staffing budget of around £300,000. The staff there are brilliant, we wouldn’t want to see them lose their jobs.
“When we asked the council about the budget they said none of the staffing budget or costs are in any way attributable to the provision of indoor bowls – we would suggest if there is a subsidy, it isn’t down to the provision of the indoor bowls.”
He added there is “misinformation” being shared regarding the club being including in the redevelopment, saying: “The council says we were consulted on the possibility of having four or five rinks – we’ve currently got six – and the original proposal was to provide three rinks.
“We haven’t been – not at any point have we been consulted.”
Mr Summerscales previously told the LDRS in November that the club is willing to work with the authority on assessing alternative inclusion options and their financial viability on both sides, saying “we’re fairly confident we would be able to make anything work”.
Now, he says the deferred decision about the club’s future at the site is ‘keeping him awake’.
He said: “I was quite worried when we renewed our subscriptions in September our membership would go down – it’s actually gone up.
“We’re still attracting members, still doing taster sessions, still doing sessions with social prescribing routes, all to support people’s health and wellbeing.
“When the centre closes, that sense of social isolation for lots of members will be quite something – it could mean their lives shortened.
“Just having somewhere to go where they can have a chat and a drink. I see it everyday when I go down there, it’s heart-warming to see. The thought of a number of them being sat at home on their own with no contact with anybody [is horrible].”
The club runs 2,200 sessions each month, including sessions offered for disabled bowlers, and members are aged between 25 and 92.
It is assessing a ‘contingency’ plan to “hold the club together” when the Richard Herrod site eventually closes, such as holding games evenings and organising entertainment nights.
A Gedling Borough Council spokesperson said: “The Council is continuing to work closely with Gedling Indoor Bowls Club following the decisions made at Cabinet in September. We recognise the concerns that have been raised and remain committed to supporting members while Cabinet considers the petition and the next stages of the Carlton Active project in February.
“A full statement has been shared to address the current points raised, and further information will be provided as soon as the formal decision-making process progresses.”
According to the council, a feasibility review has identified 18 potential sites, including refurbishment options and new-build options, when assessing the club’s relocation.
Mr Summerscales said the options “are not worth the paper it’s written on” and raising the money to move into such sites is a “pipe dream”.
Both leisure centres currently face more than £2 million in backlog works and require a yearly subsidy of around £545,000, making them “unsustainable in their current form”, according to council papers.
