KIRKLEES Council has been found at fault over a lack of public consultation ahead of a decision made behind closed doors to close a well-used sports centre in Cleckheaton.

Campaigners fighting to save Whitcliffe Mount Sports Centre from closure complained to the Local Government Ombudsman over the decision which was made by the Council's cabinet two years ago.

It centred on a plan to demolish the neighbouring Whitcliffe Mount Business and Enterprise College and the sports centre itself, and rebuild the school elsewhere on the same site.

The two share the same site in Turnsteads Avenue and the sports centre is scheduled to close at the end of May. Once the new school has been built in time for September 2017, the old school building will be demolished and a new smaller sports centre built in its place.

A petition of more than 3,000 signatures was handed to the authority in a bid to prevent closure of the sports centre, amid concerns that it could not be guaranteed that the new sports centre would be available for the local community to use.

The Ombudsman has now upheld the complaint from campaigners and has ordered the Council to reconsider the issue at a public meeting as well as outlining the costs of breaking the existing contract for the school to be redeveloped if the leisure centre were to be kept open.

The report states: "The Ombudsman's view is that the Council should consult the public before withdrawing a service it has provided to the public. In this case the Council consulted after making the decision to close the leisure centre and so the Council pre-determined the outcome of the consultation. The failure to consult before making the decision to close the leisure centre was fault."

It also criticised the Council for not carrying out an equalities impact assessment, instead relying on a screening assessment, which scored low because the sports provision was not being totally withdrawn, but reconfigured and relocated elsewhere.

The Council is expanding facilities at Spenborough Pool in nearby Liversedge, which will be ready in January, ahead of the planned closure of the Whitcliffe Mount facilities.

A report must now be prepared and the issue is to go before the authority's decision-making body, the cabinet, to allow people to have their say and a final decision to be made.

A spokesman for the campaigners said: "It's a damning indictment of Kirklees Council and the contempt it shows towards residents and users of the sports centre."

A spokesman for Kirklees Council said: “We have received the final judgements of the ombudsman and will now work through the implications of this.

"We have agreed with the ombudsman that the matter will go back to Cabinet, potentially in December, and the scope of the report to councillors will cover the areas highlighted in her report. The meeting will be held in public and will be advertised once the date is set.”