Leisure centre delay: Calderdale Conservatives call on Labour councillors to resign - but Labour blame Tory Government for Halifax pool crisis

Calderdale Conservatives have accused the Labour-led council of “woefully failing to provide leisure services”.

They said: "It is time for members of the Labour Cabinet, or all of them, to do the right thing – take responsibility and resign.”

Calderdale Council had previously insisted work on the town's new leisure centre was “on track”, despite the Courier revealing that the project's construction firm was no longer part of the scheme.

The council then revealed the switch of contractor would mean a 12-week delay.

Today it announced it would be putting the project on ice because of soaring prices.

“The warning signs have been present for over a year, and the Conservative Group has been repeatedly asking the same question ‘when does a project become unaffordable?’” said Calderdale Conservatives.

Councillor Steven Leigh, leader of the group, said: “They have proven that they are not fit to run this council and that they cannot balance the books.

"Labour will attempt to point the finger at central Government for this mess, but it is the Labour council’s reckless approach to borrowing and wasteful spending which is to blame.

"We knew about escalating construction costs almost a year ago and rising energy costs were on the horizon at the time of the last report on the leisure centre.

"To blame the Government or anyone else is ludicrous.”

The Conservative Group say their plan would have been to renovate both sites but the current state of of the swimming pool and leisure centre mean that may no longer be possible.

"The Labour Group should hang their heads in shame at their management of projects, assets, and leisure services,” they added. “Calderdale deserves much better than this.”

But Calderdale’s Labour councillors have blamed the Government’s handling of the economy for having to delay the project.

They said projected costs have risen by £4m in the last few weeks, and the likely operational running costs deficit has also increased due to the cost of living crisis and rising energy costs.

Acting Leader of the council Councillor Jane Scullion said: “This is an incredibly difficult decision but we have a responsibility to face the challenging budgetary situation which has been made worse by the rapidly spiralling economic crisis.

“We cannot just write a blank cheque; we must make difficult decisions to balance the budget.

“The real impact of the Conservative Government destabilising local authority finances is many councils are urgently reviewing their current capital expenditure. “We are furious that we have been forced to delay the current project and angry on behalf of the people of Calderdale; they deserve better from central Government.”

Lib Dem Group Leader Councillor James Baker said: "During the pandemic, our Labour town hall bosses took the unilateral decision to close the old Halifax swimming pool before an inferior, more shallow replacement pool had been built.

"Now it seems we will be left without that replacement due to soaring costs. These higher costs have arisen from the Conservative's mismanagement of our economy and the inflation crisis we face.

"Once again, it's the people of Calderdale who suffer from the combined incompetence of a Conservative Government and Labour Council.”