MP to hold public meeting on future of Batley Sports and Tennis Centre

The meeting will take place on Friday, October 27 from 5.30pm until 6.30pm at Batley Sports and Tennis Centre and attendees will include Kirklees Active Leisure’s (KAL) chief executive, Alasdair Brown, and Kirklees Council’s cabinet member for finance and regeneration, Coun Graham Turner.

Individuals and organisations interested in attending the event are being asked to register as spaces are limited.

Batley and Spen MP Ms Leadbeater said: “Nobody should be in any doubt how much I value our pools, sports and leisure facilities. They bring huge benefits in terms of the health and well-being of everybody who uses them, but also to the wider community.

"While I fully understand the financial constraints the council is under after 13 years of cutbacks from the Tories in government, I would be devastated to see more facilities closed either permanently or temporarily.

“It is very important to me that the voices of local people are heard.

"The new council leadership is being very transparent about the hard choices they have to make and I am delighted that Councillor Graham Turner will be at the meeting to answer questions.

“As the MP I don’t have any control over these funding decisions, but I will be using my position in Parliament to press the government to use the powers it has to relieve the pressure on council finances in areas like ours.”

The district’s KAL-run leisure facilities have been placed at risk due to the financial pressures faced by both the organisation itself and Kirklees Council.

Just three of the sites are making a profit – Spen Valley Leisure Centre, Bradley Park Golf Club and Leeds Road Sports Complex – and on top of this, the council is having to cut the level of funding it gives to KAL as it grapples with a £47m black hole of its own.

Consultation is currently ongoing, with the public invited to comment on the council’s plan for the centres. This proposes the closure of Batley Sports and Tennis Centre, Colne Valley Leisure Centre and Dewsbury Sports Centre.

Huddersfield Leisure Centre and Spen Valley Leisure Centre are the two “core” facilities that will be kept open.

The council hopes that the remaining “marginal” sites can stay open, though this may change at short notice should circumstances change.

A campaign group, Stop The Closures, has formed to fight the council’s proposed cuts across various sectors from leisure centres to care homes, and will be lobbying today’s (Wednesday) full council meeting.

You can register to attend Ms Leadbeater’s meeting by following this link: https://kal.org.uk/general/kim-leadbeater/

You can also have your say in the consultation here: https://www.kirklees.gov.uk/beta/food-exercise-and-sport/leisure-centre-review-consultation.aspx