Plans for Squire Lane Leisure Centre in Bradford approved
The plans have been in the works for around a decade
A PLANNING application for a Council swimming pool and leisure centre, first announced over a decade ago, have been approved.
But there is no guarantee that the development will definitely go ahead, with Council bosses still needing to “assess construction costs and future running costs” before fully signing off on the centre.
A vacant site on Squire Lane, near Bradford Royal Infirmary, has been earmarked as the site of a new leisure centre since 2015 as part of a major shake up of Council swimming provision.
There had been little progress on the scheme until in 2021 when Government announced it would get £20m in “Levelling Up” funding to get the project off the ground.
A planning application for the centre, which will include a 25 metre six-lane pool, a learner pool, fitness gym and studio spaces, was submitted by Bradford Council last year.
The development would also include a 120 space on-site car park.
The application has this week been approved by planning officers.
But it will still be some time before the pool is open to the public – Bradford Council says the scheme won’t be fully endorsed by Council bosses until this Summer, and the main building work is unlikely to begin until 2027.
Among the many conditions of the approval is that £15,000 be set aside to create a zebra crossing on Squire Lane, which could be used by pupils attending neighbouring Bradford Girls’ Grammar School.
The pool has proven controversial – it was announced at the same time Bradford Council announced plans to close Bingley Pool and Queensbury Pool.
And in recent years there have been calls for the development to be scrapped due to Bradford Council’s increasingly precarious financial situation.
Although the scheme has been awarded £20m from Government, the final cost is expected to be much higher, especially taking into account operating costs.
The planning application pointed out that the facility is planned for the Toller ward, an area of Bradford that has high deprivation and the highest population density in the district.
It is also a ward where 39.6 per cent of Year 6 children are classed as obese.
It said: “The primary objective of this project is to establish a state-of-the-art leisure centre that will play a pivotal role in addressing the existing health and wellbeing challenges within the community.
“This project aims to bridge these gaps by providing a modern, inclusive, and accessible facility that fosters healthier lifestyles, promotes community engagement, and contributes to the overall socioeconomic development of the region.”
The scheme had been scaled back from the original plans for the site – which would have seen Bradford District Care Trust contribute funding for the centre. These plans would have seen the Squire Lane development include community health facilities.
But after the Trust pulled out, citing strained NHS funding, Bradford Council went back to the drawing board, reducing the size of the development by around half.
After the application was approved, a Bradford Council spokesperson said: “A detailed procurement process will now take place based on the approved plans, along with further financial evaluation.
“The centre is set to be primarily funded through £20m of the Government’s Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) ‘Levelling-Up’ funding.
“Bradford Council’s Executive Committee will be asked to endorse the scheme in Summer 2026 at which point designs will have been concluded and a contractor ready to be appointed to commence works.”
Councillor Alex Ross-Shaw, Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning and Transport, said: “Providing a sports and leisure facility for this part of the district has always been important to us and obtaining planning approval is an important step closer to making it a reality.
“Obviously, there’s still some way to go before we get to a final decision. The next stage involves a detailed comprehensive assessment on both construction costs as well as future running costs so that our final decision can be fully informed.”
The Council says that works such as site clearance are likely to take place in the coming months “in advance of any works starting next year.”
Conditions of the planning approval are that the car park will need to have several EV charging points, and that the centre can only open between 6:30am and 10:30pm on Mondays to Fridays and from 7am to 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays.