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18
Jun 2020
'I will not close Starbeck Baths', vows council leader
The leader of Harrogate Borough Council has said he will not close Starbeck Baths after approving a shake-up of the district’s leisure services.
Residents in Starbeck vowed to fight any future threat to the 150-year-old baths after a council officer report suggested the facility’s future “would need to be considered”.
But council leader Richard Cooper said he has made it clear that it will not close under his leadership.
It comes as the borough council’s cabinet voted to set up a new company to run services, including Starbeck, as part of an overhaul of leisure and sport.
The council said the move would help to save around £400,000 a year on services. Starbeck Baths were among the facilities which increased in cost year on year.
A Freedom of Information request by The Stray Ferret showed the bill for running the baths increased from £234,193 in 2018/19 to an estimated £239,370 last year.
In a report before cabinet, the council estimated that it would save around £191,000 a year without Starbeck following investment and redevelopment of its other leisure facilities.
Read more:
- Council backs overhaul of Harrogate District leisure facilities
- How much it costs taxpayers to run leisure in Harrogate District
- Nearly half disagree with Harrogate council's leisure overhaul
Cllr Cooper said at the meeting streamed live on YouTube that he would not close the facility and the authority was being open with the costs of the baths:
Meanwhile, Michael Constantine, head of culture, tourism and sport, said the move was not a “stalking horse” and that any closure would need a separate council decision.
But Pat Marsh, leader of the Liberal Democrat group, said the she would rather Cllr Cooper had made a whole council commitment to Starbeck:
Last night, senior councillors voted to set up Brimham’s Active to run its leisure services which cost the taxpayer £3.5 million in the last financial year.
The authority will also borrow £26 million from the government’s Public Works Loans Board to fund an investment strategy into the Harrogate Hydro and a new leisure centre in Knaresborough.
The new company is expected to be operating by August 2021 and will cost the council £300,000 to set up.
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