Spring Budget includes £14.5m to re-open Bingley pool

The cash injection will revive plans initially proposed in 2022 as part of a bid by Bradford Council for Levelling Up funding for the town, and Bingley’s MP has said he is “thrilled” with the announcement.

Today’s budget revealed that Bingley Pool was one of two “shovel ready” projects nationally that would receive funding.

Dubbed Revitalising Bingley, the plan for the town was for new leisure facilities and an improved pool created in the current building – which has been shut since 2020.

Bingley market square would be partially covered to encourage greater use by stall holders all year round and a new arts trail and public realm work would link the square, pool and Main Street.

But last January Bradford Council was told the bid, and separate bids for the Bradford East, Bradford South and Keighley areas, had all proved unsuccessful.

Later in the year, the Government announced the Keighley bid, for an advanced robotics training centre and improvements to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway, would be funded through the next wave of levelling up cash.

And today it was announced that the Bingley bid would also be funded – to the tune of £14.5m.

A spokesman for the Treasury said: “This project is part of a pipeline of high-scoring, low-cost bids that were left unfunded following previous rounds of the Levelling Up Fund.

The interior of Bingley Pool (Image: Friends of Bingley Pool)

“With the limited funding available, the government has focused investment on projects in England that are under £15 million and at places most in need of levelling up that have not previously received funding from the Levelling Up Fund programme.”

When the Bingley bid was initially turned down by Government, Shipley MP Philip Davies said he had been told the failure was because of the “inadequacy” of the bid.

At the time he criticised Bradford Council, which put the bid together, saying: “Each bid went for civil service assessment to see if was sufficiently good to be put to a Minister.

“I am afraid the bid for Bingley never even reached the Ministers because it was deemed not good enough for consideration. I am absolutely livid.”

The following month Government released a report into each bid, saying the Bingley Pool scheme was a “reasonable bid.”

The report added: “The applicant demonstrated overwhelming support from residents and stakeholders, and how the project aligned with local economic strategies. The proposed interventions would help improve the local economy and the health and wellbeing of its residents, and this had been demonstrated within the bid.”

Bradford Council first announced its plans to shut the pool in 2013 – with the plan being to replace it with a facility in the North of Bradford.

But this shake up of swimming facilities was massively scaled back, leaving Bingley facing the prospect of having no nearby pool.

The authority says there are a number of maintenance issues with the pool. The building’s gym remains open.

A recent review of Council leisure facilities revealed the gym brought in £38,000 income in 2022/23, but maintaining the building cost £365,000.

After today’s announcement that the bid had now been successful, Mr Davies said: “The previous pool was run down and closed as part of the mismanagement of Bradford Council, to the detriment of my constituents.

“I have been working hard ever since to secure funding for this new pool, both privately in meetings with ministers as well as publicly through raising the issue on the floor of the House at every possible opportunity. I raised it most recently with the Prime Minister in Prime Minister’s Questions just a matter of weeks ago.

“I am thrilled that not only are we going to get a new pool but also money for improvements around the town, which could include things like landscaping public space between the new leisure centre and other town centre attractions.”

Anna Dixon, Labour Candidate for Shipley in the upcoming General Election, said: “The people of Bingley and its surrounding villages will be delighted to hear that the Council’s bid for funding to secure the future of Bingley Pool, submitted in 2022, has finally been awarded by the Levelling Up Fund.

“This funding, whilst welcome, is a blatant pre-election giveaway to Bingley and is typical of a government that has sought to run down local services and makes councils compete for pots of money.”