Batley Baths and Recreation Centre to close for good after customers were sent 'devastating' message

Earlier this year, it was reported KAL was considering the permanent closure of the facility due to the ageing condition of the building and elevated running costs. Kirklees Council has now confirmed a final decision has been made and the centre will be permanently closing.

This follows a tumultuous period for the district’s leisure centres with every KAL-run premises being under threat of closure last winter due to mounting financial pressures. Following discussions, it was decided three centres – Batley, Deighton Sports Arena and Colne Valley’s swimming pool – would be ‘temporarily closed.’

The temporary closures were to remain in place until this March when the situation was to be reviewed. However, as campaigners suspected, for two of the leisure centres, the closures have become more permanent.

Colne Valley’s pool is the only site to reopen with Deighton and Batley both remaining closed. Options are being explored for Deighton with the centre expected to re-open in some capacity, though details are yet to be disclosed.

Kirklees Council has since attempted to bail KAL out of its financial woes through a £6m ‘rescue package’ in its budget for this financial year. However, this has proved insufficient to save one of the district’s much-loved leisure centres.

A spokesperson for Kirklees Council said: “Last week, Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) informed members of Batley Baths and Recreation Centre of its plans for the facility. This followed consultation with KAL members on alternative provision earlier this year.

“Despite the council’s £6 million support package for KAL in March, they remain under severe financial pressure due to increases in the National Living Wage, inflation and energy costs. This is the case for leisure providers across the country and has meant incredibly difficult and disappointing decisions have to be made.

“KAL will continue to work with residents to advise them on alternative ways to access health and fitness services in Kirklees and to make adjustments at other KAL sites to ensure they meet the needs of previous customers at Batley Baths and Recreation Centre.”

A spokesperson for Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) confirmed that despite the council’s financial support, the centre will be permanently closing. They continued: “The decision to keep the site closed is due to the very high level of additional expenditure pressures facing our organisation, the significant costs involved in operating Batley Baths & Recreation Centre and the location of several other KAL managed leisure facilities within the local area.

“We appreciate that staff and customers will be disappointed by this difficult decision, but KAL has, and will continue to, develop additional provision at our other sites in North Kirklees so that services, such as female only swimming, remain available. Staff and registered customers at the site have been communicated to directly.”

Batley and Spen MP Kim Leadbeater has spoken of her dismay and anger at the news the baths would be permanently closed. She said: “I am extremely disappointed by the news that Batley Baths is to close permanently. The town is losing a valuable and much-loved facility that has played an important role in the community over many, many years.

“I did all that I could to avert this closure, raising the issue in Parliament, consulting with local people and holding numerous meetings with Kirklees Active Leisure and the Council. The government could have thrown the Baths a lifeline but they chose not to do so.

“Government support with energy bills was withdrawn, and while ministers in London promised millions of pounds for public swimming pools and leisure centres, to date not a penny of that has materialised and it is now too late for Batley Baths. Cuts to local authorities combined with soaring inflation and fuel costs have imposed impossible pressures on budgets and once again it’s the health and wellbeing of people and communities that suffer.

“At a local level, residents deserve to know why this closure had to happen and, crucially, what alternative arrangements will be made for those who have relied on Batley Baths. When difficult decisions like this have to be taken, people deserve to be told the full facts.

“I have written to Kirklees Council asking for a full explanation of how this happened and what plans they have to mitigate the impact on service users and local residents. I pay tribute to all the local people who fought so hard to keep the Baths open and I’m just very sorry that those efforts have not proved successful. I share their anger and dismay.”