Planning applications for axed leisure centre pulled

Planning applications for a scrapped leisure centre project have been withdrawn after the council said it could not afford the scheme.

Proposals for Squire Lane Leisure Centre in Bradford had been under way for more than a decade but last month the council's new Reform UK-led executive announced they would not go ahead.

The scheme was estimated to cost about £32.9m and the government had committed a £20m grant towards the development – a grant that is now likely to be pulled, as it cannot be used for another scheme.

The council has already spent more than £5m preparing the site, near Bradford Royal Infirmary, drawing up plans and submitting and securing planning permission.

Two planning applications associated with the leisure centre, which were approved earlier this year and contained hundreds of pages, have now been withdrawn, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

On 21 July, the council voted to pull the project, going against officers' recommendations and despite reassurances that it was a "fully developed scheme" ready for construction.

Labour councillor Rizwana Jamil formally "called in" the decision for scrutiny but a council committee voted to uphold the executive's decision on Wednesday.

The development would also have seen £15,000 spent on a new zebra crossing on Squire Lane, which would benefit pupils of nearby Bradford Girls' Grammar School.

The LDRS asked the council if the crossing would also be scrapped but has yet to receive a response.

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