COUNCILLORS have been given an update on the progress of a £17.5 million new leisure centre in the south of Bradford.

The Sedbergh Sports Centre is due to open in September 2019, and is currently being built on the former Sedbergh playing fields site between Cleckheaton Road and Huddersfield Road.

It will replace the Richard Dunn Sports Centre, the site of which will be sold to developers once this new facility is opened.

The facility will include a 25m, six-lane swimming pool, an activity pool with moveable floor, an eight-court sports hall, an 80-station fitness suite, two activity studios, and outdoor pitches for football and rugby.

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The scheme is part of a £28 million shake up of the council's leisure facilities that will see new sports centres built at Sedbergh and Squire Lane in Toller.

However, the plans will see the council close Bingley Swimming Pool and Queensbury Pool.

Project manager Andy Ross spoke to members of Bradford Council's Bradford South Area Committee about the scheme's progress on Thursday night.

He told the committee that many of the companies working on site were local, adding: "This is great local investment in the local workforce."

He said that although the project was coming in under its £17.5 million budget, there was still a contingency fund for unforeseen circumstances. He added: "We have already had to cap a mine shaft we didn't know was there, which was quite a costly surprise. But we have now shifted most of the earth on the site and haven't found any other problems. But you never know what is round the corner."

Councillor Andrew Senior (Con, Queensbury) said: "I have very mixed views on this. It looks brilliant, but I think it is a big mistake to close Queensbury pool. People in my ward will have to travel all this way to go swimming. The council needs to think about the outskirts of Bradford a lot more. I think closing Queensbury pool is a mistake."

Committee chair Councillor Alan Wainwright (Lab, Tong) said: "Unfortunately it is all down to Government funding cuts and austerity."