There are ‘no plans’ to close The Curve, Slough Borough Council’s leader has said – but he has issued warnings about whether the council will keep paying to keep it open.

More than 2,000 people signed a petition to ‘Save The Curve’ that councillors debated at a meeting on Thursday September 26. It came after fears for the building’s future were raised by savings plans that initially said the council would ‘explore the closure’ of The Curve.

Slough resident John Moloney said the petition was ‘the easiest petition I’ve done by far in my life’ as a trade unionist and campaigner.

Conservative council leader Dexter Smith said ‘there were no such proposals to make a saving by closing The Curve and that remains the case – there are no such plans’.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about what’s happening with The Curve

However the council’s budget passed in March this year did suggest the council could save £175,000 this year and another £555,000 next year through a ‘review of The Curve’.

Councillor Smith told Thursday’s meeting that the cost of running the building was ‘unsustainable’ to the council – and that he wanted a university to run it instead.

He said: “The cost of keeping it open and operating for that purpose amount to £900,000 a year. We simply don’t have that sort of money to subsidise the library service or indeed council operations of any nature.”

He added that the council would still own the building if a university took it over. He said as the landlord the council would make sure there would be ‘some access to the public’ for the library and performance space.

But Labour opposition leader Pavitar K Mann said councillor Smith was either telling ‘a complete outright lie’ that he never considered closing The Curve or that he was ‘not aware’ of what was in the budget proposals.

She added she had been told by the council’s previous executive director for finance that the savings were ‘predicated on the closing of The Curve’.

Councillor Mann said: “Don’t sit there and pretend and gaslight the residents of Slough that this was never on the table.”

Labour councillor Robert Anderson said the Conservatives ‘are not saying they haven’t decided’ to close The Curve – ‘they’re just saying they haven’t decided yet’.

READ MORE: 'Tough choices' coming in review of council services

Councillor Smith ended the debate with a warning that the council had to ‘look at all our assets’ in a bid to raise £600 million after going bankrupt in 2021.

He said: “We must look at the total financial position of the council. The statutory services we have to provide and our ability to provide them or else this council will simply not be viable in the future.”

Councillor Smith added that the whole council would get the opportunity to scrutinise and vote on any proposals for The Curve.

The meeting agreed that the council should carry out an ‘options appraisal’ on The Curve as part of a wider review of its properties. Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors voted in favour, while Labour and Independent Group councillors abstained.