'Rushed' leisure centre closure to be reconsidered

The decision to close a Bradford leisure centre will be reconsidered after councillors argued the move was being "rushed through".

Bradford Council's executive earmarked Baildon Recreation Centre to shut at a meeting in December.

The authority said it was the least used of the district's council-run leisure facilities and it would cost the taxpayer £900,000 to carry out maintenance there.

However, Conservative councillor Debbie Davies called for further scrutiny of the closure, before a final decision was made.

She claimed the report recommending the closure was "inaccurate" as it said there was "an extremely low number of users" and a "poor customer experience".

"Over 80 children each week enjoy dance classes at the venue, in addition to badminton players, wheelchair table tennis, three 'keep moving' classes per week to keep older people active and it has been the home of Shipley Model Railway Society for the past 42 years," Davies said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the planned closure at the end of March would come as Keighley Leisure Centre temporarily shuts for repairs at the end of February until summer.

Davies suggested the closure of Baildon Recreation Centre be delayed to allow users of Keighley Leisure Centre to continue sports like badminton and table tennis while the refurbishment takes place.

At a meeting of the council's Regeneration and Environment Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday, Green councillor Martin Love said the report had been "so thin".

"You are meant to have a consultation first and then make a decision – I felt the council was putting the cart before the horse," he said.

"This is not how the council should do these things, it seemed like they were rushing through the decision."

Members of the scrutiny committee voted to send the decision back – meaning it will be discussed at a future full council meeting before a final decision is made.

Davies said: "I'm delighted the committee supported the call to refer the closure decision back to full council, so I hope we can have a full debate at that meeting with all the facts at our disposal."

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