Hope for threatened leisure centre

A LEISURE centre in Leeds faced with a cut in hours and an uncertain future due to dwindling council budgets could be thrown a lifeline.

As part of Leeds City Council’s budget cuts it was agreed that the Garforth Squash and Leisure Centre, in Leeds, would have its opening hours reduced to 31 a week from April to save money. Now officers are looking at whether responsibility for the management and maintenance of the site could be transferred from the council to the Leeds-based School Partnership Trust (SPT).

A report to members of the council’s executive committee which meets today says: “The reduction in hours is required by the council’s tight financial position but is not desirable in service terms.

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“Further cuts required in future financial years raise concerns about whether even the 31-hour operating basis can be sustained into the future under council management.”

The SPT, an educational charity that governs Garforth Academy and other local schools, would lease the centre from the council at a peppercorn rent.

Its facilities would then be shared between pupils at the SPT’s schools and the rest of the community.

The report says use by schools and the community is complementary.

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Last week the council’s east outer area committee agreed to allocate £20,500 from its budget to increase the opening hours at Garforth Leisure Centre for a maximum 10-week period until an alternative provider could be found.

It is hoped that the centre would switch back to full operational hours following any handover to the SPT.

The cuts at Garforth are part of a £90m reduction in council spending over the next 12 months. The authority has said the leisure centre is proving increasingly expensive to run and maintain and has seen a significant decline in customer use.