The proposed site of the Squire Lane leisure centre, formerly the location of the Springfield Children's Homes, is now locked up
Three Labour MPs in Bradford have found themselves scrapping it out for a share of £14.6m left over from a cancelled leisure centre project.
The Reform UK-led council axed the long-planned Squire Lane leisure centre project earlier this year, citing rising costs.
Shipley MP Anna Dixon had backed calls to use some of the money to reopen Bingley Pool, while Bradford East MP Imran Hussain said last week he wanted a share to help turn a derelict building on his patch into a youth and community hub.
Meanwhile, Bradford West MP Naz Shah has recently said the cash should stay in the constituency it was meant for: "This money is something that I secured for Bradford West, and I'd like to keep it in Bradford West."
Naz Shah says the funding should stay in the constituency for which it was intended
The competing calls for the funding follow a recent row over whether Bradford could keep the grant at all.
Council leader Stephen Place had initially disputed Dixon's claim that the money was available for other projects, but later confirmed that the government would not claw it back. He said at the time that the council was not yet able to commit it to a particular scheme.
Shah has now told the BBC that the council leader had "absolutely assured" her Bradford West would be given "priority" when the money was allocated.
But she also said it was ultimately a matter for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) to decide on.
The BBC understands the money has to be spent by 2028.
Shipley MP Anna Dixon has previously said she wants officials to act on campaigners' wishes and use some of the government money to bring back Bingley Pool.
Asked whether the pot could be split between the three constituencies, hers and her two Labour colleagues', Shah pointed to the separate £20m allocated to Hussain's Bradford East constituency through the government's Pride in Place programme.
She stressed it was every MP's own "choice and prerogative" to champion particular projects in their own constituencies with money earmarked specifically for those constituencies. "But the money that comes in to Bradford West, I'm very keen that it stays in Bradford West," she said.
Asked about her colleagues' efforts to secure some of the money, Shah said: "Is it the way I would have tried to get money for my constituency? No, it isn't."
But she said she had spoken to Dixon and understood why she was pressing for the swimming pool.
"That pool is something that she is passionate about, and rightfully so, because nobody would expect an MP not to be," Shah said.
Shah pointed to the Scotchman Road fields in Toller ward as one site on her patch that could benefit from investment and said there was further need across Bradford West, including in Clayton, Thornton, Manningham and Heaton.
"You could double and triple that [money], and I'd still find the need for it," she said.
'Serious injustice'
Bradford Independents Group councillor Ishtiaq Ahmed, who is chair of the cross-party Bradford West Area Committee, also backed Shah's call, saying: "Bradford West must not lose the investment it was promised."
He said the original Levelling Up grant was intended to tackle deprivation and health inequalities, and urged the council to commit the full £14.6m to alternative projects in Bradford West if ministers agreed.
"The cancellation of the original Squire Lane project does not cancel the needs of the people it was intended to serve," he said.
"I have no objection to Bingley residents campaigning for their swimming pool. They are entitled to make their case. But why should Bradford West lose out?"
The Heaton and Frizinghall councillor said not investing the money in Bradford West would "represent a serious injustice".
Bradford East MP Imran Hussain has urged the council to use Squire Lane funding to be invested into the Greenwood Centre, on his patch, which has been empty for many years and has become a target for vandalism and arson
The previous Conservative government had earmarked the £20m for the Squire Lane project through its Levelling Up programme.
But in July, the Reform-led executive decided to discontinue the project amid concerns about the council's financial position and rising costs. This was despite more than £5m of the original pot having already been spent on preparation and planning work.
The executive axed the project contrary to its own officers' recommendations, who had stressed in a report that the Bradford West area experiences "disproportionately high levels" of deprivation, physical inactivity, and poor physical and mental health.
Their report said Bradford West's lack of a publicly accessible swimming pool left "thousands of residents [facing] barriers in participating".
A Bradford Council spokesperson said the authority was "currently assessing options for alternative use of the Local Regeneration Funding previously allocated to the Squire Lane Leisure Centre project".
"Key to this is the need to ensure any projects are deliverable and can draw down on all required grant funds by end of March 2028," they added.
The BBC understands that a memorandum of understanding exists between Bradford Council and the MHCLG which sets out how Local Regeneration Funding is managed.
The authority would be expected to discuss any major changes with the MHCLG and while MPs would not have a formal role in that, they are considered to be significant stakeholders.
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