A Councillor has called for the money from the scrapped Squire Lane leisure centre to be retained in Bradford West so it can help communities “facing some of the greatest disadvantages in Bradford”.
Last month, it was revealed that Bradford would retain the £14.6m granted by the Government for the pool and leisure centre near Bradford Royal Infirmary – despite the Council’s Reform Executive deciding not to go ahead with the scheme.
Since then, there have been calls for the money to be diverted to other areas of the District.
Some have called for the millions to be funnelled to Bingley to help reopen the town’s pool, which shut in 2000.
Earlier this week, Bradford East MP Imran Hussain suggested that some of the cash could be used to repair and reopen the Greenwood Centre in Swain House.
But Councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed (Your Bradford Independent Group), who represents Heaton and Frizinghall, has demanded an “unequivocal commitment” from Bradford Council that the money remaining from the cancelled leisure centre be reinvested in Bradford West.
He warned that diverting this investment away from the communities it was originally intended to benefit would “represent a serious injustice”.
Cllr Ahmed is also Chair of the Bradford West Area Committee, a panel of councillors who were told at their last meeting that deprivation in their area had led to huge inequalities for residents.
The Squire Lane leisure centre had been in the planning stages for years, and in 2021, the council secured a £20m Levelling Up Fund grant for the scheme from the then Conservative Government.
It was awarded to the Bradford West constituency.
Planning permission for the centre, which would have included a pool and studio space, was approved earlier this year.
But shortly after Reform swept into power in May’s local elections, the decision was made to scrap the development, with the Executive saying the financial burden of moving ahead with the £32.9 million scheme was too high.
£5.4 million had already been spent developing the scheme and preparing the site for demolition.
At the time, it was claimed that the Government would “claw back” the remaining £14.6 million.
Cllr Ahmed said: “Let me be absolutely clear: Bradford West must not lose the investment it was promised.
“This funding was secured to tackle deprivation, address health inequalities and improve opportunities for communities that have experienced decades of underinvestment.
“The cancellation of the original Squire Lane project does not cancel the needs of the people it was intended to serve.
“I have no objection to Bingley residents campaigning for their swimming pool. They are entitled to make their case. But why should Bradford West lose out?
“Why are communities already facing some of the greatest disadvantages in our district expected to step aside when funding becomes available for other areas?
“Bradford West is the only constituency in the district without a council-run swimming pool. Swimming provision, access to leisure facilities and opportunities for our children to develop essential water safety skills are simply not good enough.
“We face entrenched deprivation, poor health outcomes and significant inequalities. These are precisely the circumstances that the Levelling Up programme was intended to address.
“The Government has given councils greater flexibility over how this funding is used. But flexibility must not become an excuse to abandon the communities originally promised the investment.
“My position is straightforward: if Squire Lane cannot proceed, the remaining £14.6 million must be retained in Bradford West and invested in alternative facilities that address the area’s pressing health, leisure, youth and community needs.
“We cannot continue to talk about tackling inequalities while taking investment away from the communities experiencing them.
“Levelling up must mean levelling up where the need is greatest, not moving money away from the communities that need it most.”
Earlier this week, when the Council’s Reform Executive was asked about what the money would be spent on, Council Leader Stephen Place said: “We warmly welcome that these monies will not be clawed back by national Government and that they remain available as a capital grant.
“As we have only learnt of these available monies very recently, we are not yet able to commit their use for any particular project across our District but, of course, will look to utilise them in future, to the benefit of Bradford residents.”
