Baildon Recreation Centre closure confirmed after bid to save facility fails
Local Councillors and users of Baildon Recreation Centre pleaded with Bradford Council to at least give a reprieve of six months before closing the centre
A RECREATION centre will close in spring after attempts to save the facility were defeated at a Council meeting.
Local Councillors and users of Baildon Recreation Centre pleaded with Bradford Council to at least give a reprieve of six months before closing the centre, so more options for its future use could be explored.
But at a meeting of Bradford Council on Tuesday evening the majority of Councillors voted to push ahead with the planned closure of the centre, with the facility likely to now shut its doors in late March.
The decision to close the centre was made by Council bosses last year following a review of the district’s leisure services.
The authority said there was a huge maintenance backlog for the building, and it would cost almost £1m to bring it up to standards.
But the decision was “called in” after some Councillors raised concerns that it was based on inaccurate information.
The Council debated the planned closure on Tuesday, hearing impassioned pleas from Shipley and Baildon Councillors calling for the facility to be spared.
But the Council ultimately voted to go ahead with the closure.
At the meeting Councillor Debbie Davies (Cons, Baildon) said Council claims that the building was poorly used were overblown.
She said: “The Executive made a decision that will have a massive impact on local people without accurate information.”
She suggested that with proper marketing the centre could bring in much more money.
Cllr Davies added; “There are very few facilities for young people. The centre could become a place where young people could meet.”
She told fellow Councillors that demolishing or securing the building would have cost implications for the Council.
Councillor Martin Love (Green, Shipley) felt the report that justified the closure was lacking.
He said: “In my years sitting in this chamber I’ve seen some thin reports before, but this one was emaciated. There was so little detail, such little data to justify closing the centre.”
Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Executive for Healthy People and Places, said: “We don’t underestimate the strength of feeling on this issue, but we’ve had to make very difficult decisions due to 14 years of Tory austerity.
“The centre in Baildon needs significant investment to bring it up to standards and be fully disability compliant. It is not acceptable for users to be faced with less than inviting facilities.
“The Council don’t have the funding to bring it up to standards – we don’t have the funds to keep everything going.
“This is a difficult decision, but we are making it so we can maintain other vital sporting facilities for our community.”
When it came to the vote the majority of Councillors voted to uphold the initial decision to close the centre.