THE LABOUR administration won’t back down over plans to increase fees for sports clubs, a senior councillor has said.

Environment committee chairwoman Gill Mitchell said her party stood by plans to make sports clubs pay their way after her Conservative counterpart Tony Janio called on the administration to call off the fees hike.

Cllr Mitchell said that the administration was only heeding the advice of former chancellor George Osborne in attempting to make the council self-funding by 2020.

The Argus reported last month that five bowls clubs were at risk of closure because of increased financial burdens trying to meet rising costs from cuts to grounds maintenance and increases in maintenance fees.

Mick Cox is club captain of Hove Park Tennis Club which has more than 90 members and has been operating in the park for almost 60 years.

He said: “We are all most concerned at just what the council are going to come up with and how it will affect our tennis club.

“I am sure doctors would like to see and encourage people of all ages be able to get out and exercise as much as they can but it seems that Brighton and Hove City Council are doing their best to stop this by their policy of funding cuts and support to the city’s sports clubs.”

Marion Whitney, Portslade Bowls Club treasurer, said if the cost-cutting plans were implemented, the club would have “no long-term future”.

She said: “The proposal would mean payment to the council of £394 per playing member for a five month season and in addition we have to pay insurance, affiliation fees and general running costs.”

She added the club was in negotiations with the parks department in a bid to agree a reduction and phasing in of additional payments.

At Thursday night’s full council meeting, Cllr Janio called on Cllr Mitchell to stop council officers’ “merry jaunts” around the city because they were upsetting park users with talk about proposed cuts before a citywide consultation had been completed and next year’s budget proposals published.

He also called for the authority to use savings from other parts of the environment budget to be spent on parks and open spaces and called on Cllr Mitchell to scrap proposed rise in fees and charges for sports clubs.

He said: “We take this very seriously and we will not let the matter rest here.”

Cllr Mitchell said: “In terms of stopping officers going around parks and open spaces, no. We want to attract as many views as possible.

“What this council administration is doing is to follow through on the advice we have been receiving from the Conservative group over the years about doing things differently, making services pay for themselves and George Osborne who wanted all councils to become financially self-sustaining by 2020.”