KEY POINTS:
Staff at four Auckland City recreational and aquatic centres in Auckland face losing their jobs after a council decision not to renew their management leases.
The Glen Innes Fitness and Aquatics Centre, the Otahuhu Recreation and Youth Centre, the Pt Erin Pools and the Lynfield Recreation Centre are
run by the YMCA under contract to the Auckland City Council.
But the council - which outsources operational management of its recreation and aquatic facilities - has appointed a new manager.
Auckland YMCA chief operations officer Arvid Ditchburn said staff were struggling to understand why they were being replaced.
"Our immediate concern is for the welfare of our staff at those centres who will be affected the most by the council's decision."
Up to 100 YMCA staff members at the centres will be affected. They have had meetings with YMCA management to discuss their futures.
"The staff have been presented with three scenarios with regards to employment ... Regrettably one of those scenarios is redundancy," Mr Ditchburn said.
The YMCA leases on four facilities expire at the end of June.
After calling tenders, the city council opted not to renew the leases with the YMCA, instead awarding new four-year management contracts to the Community Leisure Management company.
YMCA management staff were notified on February 12, and Mr Ditchburn said the move came as shock, especially as the YMCA had been operating the Lynfield, Glen Innes and Pt Erin facilities for more than 14 years.
A new youth centre and developments to the Lynfield centre in Margaret Griffen Park were exciting projects that YMCA staff had worked to get but would now be excluded from.
"It is particularly saddening to think that many of these staff may not continue to work in the centre once it is finished, after having put so much effort and support into the design and construction," Mr Ditchburn said.
Community Leisure Management, which already runs 29 recreational and aquatic centres throughout New Zealand, will operate the four centres, as well as the Cameron Pools in Mt Roskill from April 1.
The company's general manager, Craig Carter, said all of the facilities would continue to run as normal.
"We want the facilities to be operating as they have been and to keep in touch with what the community wants," Mr Carter said.
A council spokeswoman said it would be working with the incoming and outgoing operators - including transferring existing memberships for the public - to ensure a smooth transition.
