NEWS that taxpayers will not know how much of their money has been used to build a new sports centre in Huddersfield and how much has been contributed by Tesco until after the development is finished will not please many.

There is a hefty £35.5m price tag on the new sports centre which is to be built on the Spring Grove car park just outside the ring road.

The start date has been brought forward with work now due to commence on site next week but there are still many questions people will want answering.

Top of that list will be just how the finances of this deal stack up. So far we have been told nothing other than the price tag and Kirklees Council is adamant that commercial sensitivity means that it cannot give details.

How that will go down with council taxpayers remains to be seen but surely they are entitled to know just how this entire project is being funded?

Is there a shortfall between what the supermarket giant is paying and the amount coming out of council coffers? Is funding being made available from elsewhere? Is any Government money involved?

“Commercial sensitivity” might well apply to the delicate process of tendering but surely not to the entire way in which a public facility is being funded.

These are tough economic times. Look at the number of jobs being lost, services curtailed or cut altogether.

Against that backdrop, many will rightly feel uncomfortable with being told that they will only find out how the sums add up when the old sports centre site is transferred to Tesco – and that’s after the new facilities are finished.