Every swimming pool run by Kirklees Active Leisure at risk of closure
Every swimming pool run by Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) is at risk of closure, with millions needing to be spent on essential maintenance across the leisure centres, bosses have warned.
Kirklees Active Leisure is an independent charitable organisation which runs ten leisure centres across the district, while Kirklees Council owns the buildings and is responsible for their maintenance and repair. Seven of the sites have swimming pools.
The challenges facing KAL were laid bare at a meeting with a Kirklees Council scrutiny committee.
Three of the leisure centres - Scissett Baths and Fitness Centre, Batley Sports and Tennis Centre and Dewsbury Sports Centre – require over £1m of investment.
Adele Poppleton, Kirklees Council’s Service Director for Culture and Visitor Economy, said:
“This [investment] isn’t to make all singing and dancing centres, this is just to keep them running and open at the moment.”
In the case of Dewsbury, over £2.5m is needed, with Ms Poppleton telling the committee that she had been informed that around £15m is needed to get the centre “up to the standards that are now expected.”
A leisure centre review is currently taking place which will determine which of KAL's centres will remain open in the coming years.
Options being explored include mothballing centres in the hope of re-opening them in the future, and closing centres completely. The council was also said to have agreed that KAL can “explore” pulling out of the Stadium Health and Fitness Club facility.
£0.5m of funding is being sought from Sport England’s Swimming Pool Support Fund to try to help keep the pools open.
In its budget for the current financial year, the council set aside £6.1m for KAL. However, this is set to decrease significantly over the coming years with a maximum of £2.55m earmarked for KAL for 2023/24.
The £6.1m in this year's budget was reportedly £1m short of the amount KAL had requested from the council.
Last December, KAL announced that Batley Baths, Deighton Sports Arena and Colne Valley’s swimming pool would be “temporarily” closed. The pool has since re-opened at the Colne Valley site as has Deighton’s centre which is currently operating at limited capacity and will do so until November. Batley Baths continues to be closed.
The closures were attributed to financial pressures experienced since the Covid-19 pandemic and increasing energy costs which have quadrupled from around £1m to £4m, especially due to the heating of swimming pools.
The decisions on which centres will close and how Kirklees’ leisure centres will operate in the future are yet to be made. KAL has been given a deadline of August 29 to present what it thinks it can deliver next year within its £2.55m budget. The proposals will then be heard by the cabinet, with the preferred option sent to public consultation.
Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know...