£2.5m SCHEME TO REPLACE FIRE-DAMAGED SPORTS FACILITIES AT BRIGSHAW SCHOOL

12.00.00pm BST (GMT +0100) Thu 16th Sep 2004

COUNCIL chiefs have approved around £2.5m of spending to replace sports facilities destroyed by fire at Brigshaw High School.

Pupils, staff and the local community would be able to benefit from a new sports hall, gym, dance studio, changing facilities, fitness centre, PE classroom and even a climbing wall.

Members of Leeds City Council's Executive Board approved the spending at their meeting yesterday.

Interim off-site PE facilities in Kippax and Garforth Sports centres have had to be provided since the Allerton Bywater school's sports facilities were destroyed by fire at the end of 2003.

Funding for the project is being provided from the insurance settlement, school budget and council budget.

Cllr Richard Harker (LibDem, Moortown), Executive Member for Learning, said:

"It has not been ideal for the Brigshaw pupils to have to go elsewhere for sports activities, but this scheme will provide them with the very latest in modern, cutting-edge facilities.

"The addition of this sports facility to the main school building opened in 2002 will hopefully put the disruption of the school fires firmly behind the pupils and staff."

Brigshaw pupils will soon be able to enjoy equally-modern outdoor sporting facilities as they benefit from a separate scheme next to the sports block.

It will include a floodlit synthetic sports pitch and a mountain bike/cycle cross track- also floodlit- outdoor changing facilities and a new access road.

This scheme is expected to be completed in February next year and has been made possible thanks to an innovative agreement between the New Opportunities Fund for Sports and Physical Education, Education Leeds and the Learning and Leisure client partnership.