Leisure centres in Batley and Huddersfield to close over winter due to rising costs

Three leisure centres in West Yorkshire will fully or partially close over winter in a bid to combat rising costs.

Batley Baths and Recreation Centre and Deighton Sports Arena, in Huddersfield, will shut completely. The swimming pool at Colne Valley Leisure Centre will be out of action.

The closures will start on 16 December and last until at least the end of March next year.

Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL), which manages the facilities, said the decision would be reviewed in spring next year.

In a statement, the charity said it had been "under financial pressure since the pandemic", making the "extremely difficult" decision to close the sites due to "huge" increases in energy, supplier and services costs.

It added: "Whilst KAL has already implemented a range of cost saving measures over recent years, which will continue, KAL’s expenditure can only be reduced significantly by temporary reductions in the number of facilities operated.

"KAL will continue to carefully review the financial challenge the charity faces, making further changes as required to try to ensure that as many facilities as possible can continue to operate."

Members of the affected centres will be able to use the facilities and classes at other locations which are unaffected by the announcement.

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