Provision of council facilities

Bruce Murray, Elland

I would like to thank Sue Holdsworth, councillor for the neighbouring higher income council ward to Elland, Greenland and Stainland for her reply, expanding the issues on this debate.

This is about access to Calderdale council facilities. These include the ability to travel to a faculty.

Those without a car not a bus route with a frequent bus service and low income will be excluded by default.

The second issue is where should facilities be located.

I would argue a central hub that does not hide the fact it is providing for elite training, and smaller hubs that provide more general families.

We need to be honest about what we are tying to do. Provide facilitates for elite training, or community facilities.

If the swimming club and Calderdale council wish to be inclusive it needs to take into account the ability of travel and the ability to pay. If either does not then the use of public funding make a nonsense of an equal access policy.

Elland has no provision for swimming whatsoever, a poor community and there are serous access issues.

Travelling without a car early and later on in the day is near impossible, for some to access services.

The political class need to understand that centralised provision of services can lead to exclusion issues. Central hubs providing elite services are not acceptable when that is the only access.

In Elland Ward where I live I started voting green because of centralise and travel issues. Not one of our local councillors in Elland support community provision in Elland.

Our local political class need to understand that solutions to some of these issues are providing community services on the doorstep, which in turn has lead to a very legitimate reality of exclusion to communities without community provision. Notably lower working class Elland.

People must take the flak when it is legitimate and due, and change the way things are done or equal access is no more than hot air.