A community has come together in defiance of the possible closure of their local leisure centre.
Over 100 people attended a meeting to save Cefn Fforest Leisure which is threatened with closure under plans by Caerphilly County Borough Council to reorganise their leisure services.
A council spokesperson said no decision has been made to close Cefn Fforest or any other leisure centre in the county borough.
Despite this, campaigners have called for a protest at the next full council meeting on July 21, when councillors will hand over a petition against any closure.
Blackwood Town Councillor Andrew Farina-Childs launched the petition with fellow councillors.
He said: “The petition now has over 1,500 signatures on it, the strength of feeling in the community is quite unbelievable.
“People don’t want to see it close, obviously, everyone is talking about it.
“I’m writing to county councillors to urge them to try and keep as many leisure centres open as possible.
“It’s not been very well thought out, as part of the school curriculum they have to do swimming, so where are they going to go?
“Just four years ago Cefn Fforest had £800,000 spent on it, I feel it’s just a knee-jerk reaction to saving money as part of the budget cuts.”
A consultation into the council’s review of leisure centres ended in May.
The report that went out for consultation recommended closing some of the county borough’s 11 leisure centres, creating super “multifunctional” centres in Risca,Caerphilly, Newbridge and the Aberbargoed or Bargoed area.
Leisure centres in Cefn Fforest, Pontllanfraith, the Sue Noakes centre near Ystrad Mynach, Heolddu and New Tredegar could close as a result of reorganisation.
The report calls for new leisure centres to be built in the Aberbargoed or Bargoed area and Caerphilly town.
Another recommendation is to transfer the running of Rhymney Leisure Centre to Rhymney High School and the running of Bedwas Leisure Centre to Bedwas High School.
The review comes as the number of people using leisure centres is on the rise.
In 2011/12, the number of visitors to leisure centres in the area was 1,148,368 and by the 2013/14 financial year it was 1,290,343.
A Caerphilly County Borough Council spokesperson said: “The council is currently developing a new draft leisure strategy which involves a review of the way leisure facilities are provided across the county borough in the future.
“A consultation has taken place as part of this process and unfortunately this has led to rumour and speculation in the community that Cefn Fforest leisure centre is closing as a result.
“We would like to assure everyone that the council has not made any decisions relating to the closure of Cefn Fforest or any other leisure centre.
“The draft strategy looks at long term options and our overall vision for the future after taking into account a whole range of factors.”