Kirklees Cabinet approves a revised proposal for the future of leisure centres

In September, the council started a six-week public consultation on a new leisure centre offer for Kirklees. Due to the cost-of-living crisis and funding constraints, the offer included the potential closure of Batley Sports and Tennis Centre, Colne Valley Leisure Centre, and Dewsbury Sports Centre. 17,860 local people took part in the consultation.

At their meeting on 12 December Cabinet were presented with the headline results of the consultation alongside a revised proposal from Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) who operate the district’s centres.

The new proposal means that Batley Sports and Tennis Centre and Colne Valley Leisure Centre will stay open.

During the next financial year (2024/25) KAL will continue to operate:

Batley Sports & Tennis Centre

Bradley Park Golf Club

Colne Valley Leisure Centre

Holmfirth Pool and Fitness Centre

Huddersfield Leisure Centre

Leeds Road Sports Complex

Scissett Baths & Fitness Centre

Spen Valley Leisure Centre & Princess Mary Stadium/ Running Track

What happens to the other leisure centres?

Dewsbury Sports Centre will remain closed due to major repair and maintenance requirements as well as the discovery of RAAC.

The council and KAL will continue discussions around the feasibility of offering some level of dryside activities in the future, in addition to looking at opportunities for Dewsbury residents to be supported to be physically active in other ways.

The start of the consultation also coincided with KAL legally withdrawing from the Huddersfield Stadium Health & Fitness Club. The centre will remain closed whilst the council and Kirklees Stadium Development Ltd look at options for the future of the site. This will include working to try and identify an alternative operator.

Deighton Sports Arena will remain open until at least April 2024 whilst discussions continue about the site being taken over by another organisation.

During the consultation period, the council have worked with KAL to remodel their organisation’s finances. Together they have been looking at ways to reduce expenditure and increase income, with the intention of ensuring a sustainable leisure offer can be maintained across the centres.

KAL have remodelled their offer using feedback from customers. They have also considered the expected national reduction in energy costs, reduced staffing and central business costs in the revised offer.

Councillor Graham Turner, Cabinet Member for Finance and Regeneration, said:

“Thank you to everyone who took part in the consultation. Your views and ideas have been vital. They’ve made a real, and positive, difference to the proposals.

“Council staff have worked hard with their colleagues at KAL to come up with an offer that makes health and fitness services available to as many residents as we possibly can. I’m pleased we’ve been able to broaden the leisure centre provision and that we’re able to do so within the financial limitations we set out originally.

“It’s still a tough financial climate out there for anyone running sports facilities anywhere in the country. And we haven’t yet been able to come up with a viable option for every centre. But if we can keep up the level of support that’s been shown for Kirklees centres during the consultation, the future looks a lot more positive than it did a few weeks ago.”