£32m sports centre plan unveiled

Plans have been unveiled for a new £36m sports centre in a West Yorkshire town.

The centre, in Huddersfield, would have two pools, two sports halls, squash and martial arts facilities and a gym.

Kirklees Council said its "star attraction" would be a leisure water section, to include a beach, wave machine and slides.

A deal with supermarket chain Tesco, which wants to build a store on the site of the town's current sports centre, would help fund the project.

The council wants to put the new centre on the Spring Grove pay and display car park, near to the fire station at Springwood.

Council leader Mehboob Khan said it was the "only viable option".

Changing rooms

"This is a prominent location with excellent transport and pedestrian links into the town centre," he said.

"So there could be a knock-on effect of far more people using our shops before or after they visit the sports centre."

Mr Khan said the current sports centre was "outdated, has poor disabled access and many people are put off by the changing rooms".

He said there was also a high risk of pool tank failure and the council would need "tens of millions of pounds" of investment to repair it.

The council said it could only afford to build the centre if its planning committee agreed to allow Tesco, which already has a store in the town, to relocate to the current sports centre site in Southgate.

If permission is granted, the council said work would start on the centre in late 2010, and the new Tesco store would open in 2014.

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