I USE the sports centre three times a week and throughout 2016 I became aware that the contract to run the centre was up for renewal.

It was in early 2017 that the new contractor was announced and only then did it become clear that the centre would be replaced and almost immediately a plan was available for ‘questions and answers’.

At no time did I (or anyone else I know) get the opportunity to influence the specification/design of the new facility. TVBC may well have used the Sport England Procurement Toolkit and other external sources, but what about the most important stakeholders, the people who actually use the place?

It just seems to me like politicians telling us what we are going to get rather than the other way round, where the people tell the politicians what they want — it’s called democracy.

I know most discussion centres on the pool but I take issue with the aerobic studios. The current studio one takes about 28 people and studio two about 13 (really inadequate) and both are usually oversubscribed and run with waiting lists.

The two new studios one and two are smaller than studio one so can take less people so the waiting lists will get even longer and classes smaller.

This is ridiculous given that the government are encouraging people to get fit. In addition, the two new studios are co-located with a movable wall between them. Anyone who has been to an aerobics class knows that this will not work since the music from one studio will impact any activities in the adjoining studio.

Both studios need to run concurrently to maintain the existing programme or is this to be reduced as well?

TVBC really need to stop this and start getting the opinion of Andover residents and users.

After all they will be paying for it.

E Treadwell, Chilbolton