Plans for a long-awaited leisure centre in Salford have been shelved because of anticipated cuts to the city council's budget. City council chiefs have put the £20 million building of Pendleton Leisure Centre on the back burner following Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's announcement of a potential £18billion of public spending cuts.
Salford is already facing a shortfall of £16m in its 2023/24 budget due to soaring energy costs. Spiralling inflation has also played a part in the 'indefinite suspension' of the leisure centre project which was earmarked for a parcel of land off Churchill Way next to Salford Shopping Precinct.
City mayor Paul Dennett today described the decision as 'heartbreaking'. "It has only been taken in light of the rapidly worsening economic situation for the UK economy and leisure facilities - on top of the council's ongoing budgetary concerns.
READ MORE: Police tent in place and forensics at scene near flats after 'man found dead'
"To fund the Government's £43bn worth of tax breaks for millionaires and billionaires, the new Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has already committed to a further £18bn of public sector funding cuts in next year's budget. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has recently calculated that £60bn savings will be needed to cover the damage caused by Prime Minister Truss and Kwarteng to the British economy, so this number is likely to rise.
"This is on top of the £16m we are looking to take out of the Council's budget next year, primarily caused through rising gas and electricity costs. We are anticipating a bonfire of local authority budgets next year, just at the time when council services are most needed."
The initial plan to build a new centre in Pendleton was first tabled in 2016. At the time it was estimated to cost £15.5m, but costs have risen since then. The facility would have stood on land between Brydon Close and Holcome Close where the High Street council estate once stood.
It is understood the council is planning to leave the site vacant so that the plan can be brought forward at a later date. Influential in the decision to drop the new-build was the projected £1m annual running costs of the new facility.
Since 2010, Salford council's revenue support grant from central government has been cut from £450m to its current level of £203m. During the last 12 years, the authority has shed more than half its staff.
READ NEXT:
- Traumatised family of six 'lose everything' after devastating bedroom fire destroys home
- Fear over loan shark lenders ‘prospering’ from cost of living crisis
- 'Rare condition causes bruise-like rashes all over my face... but I'm embracing it'
- "This is the worst it's ever been" - Fear and shock on streets after man stabbed by hooded gang
- Dad smashed up Ferrari on Deansgate after ‘emotions got the better of him’ following nightclub row
