RESULTS of a five week consultation about Laindon Community Centre were presented to councillors last night.

A report went to the Communities and Wellbeing Committee (Thursday, 1 July) highlighting the results of the consultation, which ran from 24 April until 28 May.

The next steps will be for the findings to go to the council's Policy and Executive Committee on 15 July where future options will be considered.

Leader of Basildon Council and Chairman of the Policy and Executive Committee Councillor Andrew Baggott said: "The aim of this consultation was to gather the opinions of those who use or may wish to use the centre in the future. We must ensure it is fit for purpose, safe and meets the needs of the community. This exercise has given us valuable insight and enabled us to listen to what people want from the centre.

"We will not take forward a proposal until we are certain we have listened and considered the views of our residents."

Chairman of the Communities and Wellbeing Committee Cllr Terri Sargent added: "The council is committed to the re-opening of the Laindon Community Centre safely and is putting in place a programme of work to enable the centre to re-open as soon as possible.

"An initial programme of works to resolve safety issues for the building are being progressed as a key priority and we will keep members of the community updated of progress via our website."

The survey was completed by 1,293 participants, the majority of whom (1,057), had visited the centre in the last two years. Around half of those surveyed visited the centre on a weekly basis with gym and exercise the most popular reason for visiting.

This was closely followed by the bar and the older people's activity centre. Around half of participants indicated they would be interested in volunteering opportunities at the centre going forward.