Among the proposed budget cuts announced by Bradford Council on Wednesday was a review of leisure services in the District – a review that could lead to the planned Squire Lane Leisure Centre being scrapped.
Plans to build a new health and wellbeing centre at Squire Lane, near Bradford Royal Infirmary, date back years, and were part of a major shake-up of the District’s swimming pool offer first proposed in 2015.
In 2021, the Government agreed the Squire Lane scheme, which would include a swimming pool as well as health facilities, should get £20m in Levelling Up funding in 2021.
But there has been little progress on the plans, while estimated costs have risen to around £48m.
Last year the scheme hit a roadblock when Bradford District Care Trust, a partner in the plans, announced that it is “unable to commit at this stage to contributing towards the financial requirements of the scheme” and that the scope of the project would have to be reduced.
A report into the planned budget cuts reveals that the future of the centre will be decided as part of a review of leisure facilities – which is expected to cut £1.31m from the service over two years.
The report said: “The review will also consider if the Squire Lane project should go ahead.”
