Deighton leisure centre to stay open until March as ownership explored

Deighton Sports Arena closed last winter, but reopened with reduced hours temporarily

A leisure centre which was earmarked for closure will now stay open until March, while plans to hand it over to the local community are explored.

Deighton Sports Arena in Huddersfield was one of three which closed last year with operator Kirklees Active Leisure (KAL) blaming rising energy costs.

It had reopened with limited hours but was due to close again this month.

KAL said the gym would stay open to give the council more time to make arrangements.

One option being explored is a Community Asset Transfer (CAT) which would hand responsibility for running the centre to the local community.

Less funding

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), councillor for Ashbrow James Homewood said: "This decision gives us some more time to work on this proposal, and to look at any other potential options, while maintaining the current provision."

KAL runs 10 centres on behalf of Kirklees Council, and had closed centres in Batley, Colne Valley and Deighton last year.

The council needs to save £47m before the end of the financial year and said it was unable to provide KAL with the same level of funding it has previously.

The council provided KAL with a £6.1m bailout this year but said it can give the organisation a maximum of £2.55m a year in the future .

This has prompted a full review of the borough's KAL-run leisure centres to determine which can continue to operate with reduced funding, with just the Huddersfield and Spen Valley sites not at risk.

Consultation on the leisure centre review has now come to a close and results are yet to be shared with the public.