Setback for Lichfield leisure centre plan as levelling up bid is rejected

The Government has announced that Lichfield has not been awarded any money from round one of the Levelling Up Fund, which saw Stoke-on-Trent secure £56m of government cash.

The district submitted a bid for a grant of more than £5m to help finance a new leisure centre, with a further £5m set to be borrowed by the council to help reach the project’s anticipated £11m total cost.

Labour councillor Dave Robertson pointed out that other areas – such as Halifax, and Moseley in Birmingham – had seen funding approved for similar projects.

He said: “When Friary Grange was threatened with closure in 2019, our community could not have been clearer that we need a public leisure centre in our City.

“I am gutted that the Conservative government has today chosen not to support our area with funding that would have allowed the council to move ahead with plans for a replacement leisure centre in Lichfield.”

He added that the pressure is now on the council to find another source of funding.

He said: “The district council needs to ensure that it keeps its promise to the people of Lichfield and make sure that we do see a replacement for Friary Grange before it closes in 2024.

“At a time when there is understandable frustration among our neighbours that investment in Lichfield’s infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with the amount of housebuilding locally, the council cannot allow people to lose access to leisure services or a public swimming pool.

“There is a lot of funding to find for the new leisure centre and the council leadership must now show that it can deliver on the priorities of the people living in our city and our district.”

Conservative cabinet member with responsibility for the leisure centre project, Councillor Iain Eadie said: “The Chancellor made his announcement yesterday regarding what I would call round one of the levelling up fund.

“Just because we weren’t successful in this round, there is still the opportunity to bid in future rounds.”

He continued: “Until we understand from Government why we weren’t successful in this round one bidding, we won’t understand whether or not we should be putting ourselves into round two.”

Councillor Eadie said the cabinet, and the council, is committed to finding a way to ensure the new leisure facility is built.

He said the council has invested in the Friary Grange site in order to extend its usage, including signing a seven-year lease on the facility, which has around five years left to run.

He suggested the council may have to consider building the new leisure in a ‘modular’ way rather than completing it as a whole.

Councillor Eadie said the council wants to be in a position to open a new facility at the earliest opportunity, and remains committed to doing so before the Friary Grange site closes.

He said the council would have to weigh up a number of options for securing funds, including borrowing a larger sum to ensure the project goes ahead.

He said: “The council is already committed to borrowing £5m to go towards the cost of the new leisure centre, and therefore it would be a fresh decision of council to consider borrowing a larger sum.

“That’s not something that we’ve considered to date, but would we consider options? Yes, we would.

“We would need to be informed by the council’s overall financial position in terms of being able to do so.”

He said when the government announces whether or not it will provide councils with a long-term financial settlement arrangement this would give greater certainty around future funding options.

A task group is due to meet on Wednesday to discuss the next steps for the project.