Spen Pool to have extension

The council and Kirklees Actice Leisure want to build self-contained“modular build units” with the support of Sport England by the time Whitcliffe Mount shuts.

Council leader David Sheard said: “This looks to be a plan worth considering. The extension would cater for the health and fitness opportunities that are currently in place at Whitcliffe Mount, which equals almost 50 per cent of current use of the site.

“We know that in the long term there would be a huge issue if there is no swimming provision in the Spen Valley. The ambition to build a new Sports Centre to include swimming at Princess Mary is an ambition shared by local people and the council, the council having adopted this as a priority.

“We do not want to be in a position where we don’t have facilities for current users, and we will have to work with partners to offer alternatives for activities not included in the modular build interim project, wherever possible.”

The Whitcliffe Mount site has to close by the end of 2016 because the neighbouring school, which it shares plumbing and electricity with, is being knocked down.

But Cleckheaton councillor John Lawson was not convinced by the plans after a full council meeting on Wednesday. He said: “There was no clear idea of how they are going to address provision for sports in the future. They weren’t promising anything.”