A handful of community organisations in South Leeds have
launched a million-pound campaign to take over a seemingly doomed sports
centre. Leeds city council plans to
close South Leeds Sports Centre in Beeston - despite a residents'
campaign to save the facility
But now a community partnership, led by social enterprise
Tiger 11 and including the Hamara Healthy Living Centre, Joseph Priestley College
and Proactive Sports, are
aiming to rescue the building and turn it into a community-run sports
facility. The partnership, which has
just received a small grant from the council's inner south area committee to
look at costings in detail, aims to secure cash from the government's Community builders
programme to finance much of the bid, which will also see the building
extensively refurbished.
Jeremy Morton, who runs Tiger 11, said:
"There is a real demand for community sports
facilities in the Beeston and Holbeck area - ideally we don't want the existing
council facilities to close, but if they are, then we're presenting them with
an alternative.
"The other sports
facilities that people could use are two bus rides away in Morley and at the John Charles
Centre for Sport, assuming you don't have a car. This area has a
very low number of cars.
"Local organisations will run the centre, so we can
make sure it meets local needs and we aim to involve users in making decisions.
"Our agenda won't be a city-wide one, but one that
just looks at the needs of Beeston and Holbeck."
Morton said it would be necessary for the building to
undergo 'fairly major' refurbishment to modernise facilities.
"The sports hall and swimming pool are in fairly
good condition, but we need to look at the rest of the building," he
added.
As well as applying for money from the government, the
consortium (which doesn't currently have a name) is ultimately looking for the
scheme to be self financing, with outdoor five-a-side pitches providing
lucrative income.
Splashback campaigners
Morton said he had been
in touch with campaigners from the Splashback
group, who are fighting to keep the council sports centre open, and
hopes to meet with them soon.
Last month Splashback
campaigners met Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn
and local councillors on the steps of Leeds Civic Hall to hand over petitions
and postcards signed by more than 2,000 people opposed to the planned closure.
"We hope they will support what we are trying to do
here," Morton added.
The consortium's proposal is likely to be heard by Leeds
council's executive board over the summer. It is understood the partnership's
initial business plan has been welcomed by Leeds council's asset management
department.