Pool cue Sports centre protesters demand a rethink

Pool cue Sports centre protesters demand a rethink
Pictured are Steve Johnston, Sally Cieslik and Steve Peacock

A GROUP fighting to reopen a Leeds sports centre lobbied councillors as they discussed proposals for it to be replaced by a school in south Leeds.

Leeds City Council’s executive board was yesterday considering moving forward with the plan for a primary school on the site of the former South Leeds Sports Centre in Beeston.

The board was being recommended to approve the next step by inviting developers to bid for the right to build the 420-place school.

Protest group Splash wants to see the sports centre reopened, more than a year after it closed due to lack of demand, or for the school to include public sports facilities.

They stood outside the Civic Hall with banners and badges to make their point to councillors sitting to consider the proposed changes.

Group member Sally Cieslik said: “We must have a sports centre to serve the local area. If the decision is taken to build a school, it should incorporate those facilities.”

This article was first published in the Yorkshire Evening Post, Thursday, January 5, 2012