Decision to reopen tip with culture cash examined

A decision to divert £400,000 of culture funding in Bradford to reopen a tip in the district is to be re-examined by a cross-party panel of councillors.

Earlier this month, Bradford Council's Reform-led cabinet voted to reopen the Sugden End tip in Cross Roads, near Keighley, by the end of the year.

The decision was welcomed by many local residents and politicians, but concerns were raised over how the executive planned to pay for it, and the impact of cutting arts funding to do so.

The executive's decision has now been "called in" by Bingley Labour councillor Susan Fricker, and it will be discussed by a scrutiny committee next Tuesday.

The move will give councillors from all parties a chance to debate the plans before either deciding to accept and "release" the decision - or send it back to the executive to be reconsidered.

Rather than the reopening of the tip, Fricker's reasoning for the call-in relates to the scrapping of culture funding, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

The £400,000 was previously included in a budget that was voted through ahead of May's local elections, before Labour lost control of the council.

The money was set aside to "support the delivery of events across the district to promote local heritage, culture and arts and drive increased footfall in district centres".

Fricker pointed out in her official call-in request that £200,000 of that cash pot had been set aside for events, and "bringing people together to celebrate where they live".

The other £200,000 was for "strategic support for local organisations running events".

Her request adds: "The funds were designed for communities to run local events, to support increases in footfall to high streets and town centres, to support local businesses, our creative industries and to enhance local pride in place.

"The termination of these funds will have detrimental impacts upon local communities, local businesses, our creative industries and the reputation of the council."

She said both the executive's report and its recent meeting where the changes were voted through had "failed to give any consideration to the impact of terminating these funds... there was no relevant cost/benefit analysis".

It had also "failed to give any consideration to alternative sources of funding for the HWRC (tip) proposals," she added.

At last week's executive meeting, councillor Imran Khan, leader of the Labour group, said alternative funding should be found to reopen the tip, rather than cutting arts funding.

He said: "It doesn't have to be one or the other."

But council leader Stephen Place said reopening the tip would help the people of Bradford, particularly the Keighley area.

The Reform executive was supported by the opposition Conservative group, with chief whip Geoff Winnard saying scarce resources should be concentrated on "getting the basics right" before spending on "the more frivolous nice-to-have extras".

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