PLANS to build a new library and community centre in Dalton are a waste of money, says one of the area’s councillors.
Kirklees’s Cabinet has approved the demolition of derelict buildings at Harp Inge to make way for the £1m library, information and children’s centre.
It came after the site was labelled a monstrosity by Lesley Frowen, of the Longfield and Ridgeway Tenants’ and Residents’ Association.
But Lib-Dem councillor Roger Battye has blasted the decision.
He said: “The proposed plans are a waste of resources and money.
“This is all due to bad management and Labour’s grandiose schemes.
“Housing is a more important issue and this area would have been best used for five or six new badly needed homes.”
Clr Battye was on the board of Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing which voted to approve the £70,000 to clear the site.
But he said: “We did not vote this money through to waste it. We voted for this to allow the building of much-needed homes.”
Clr Battye said there had been talk of combining a community centre with the Dram Centre (Dalton, Rawthorpe and Moldgreen) on Ridgeway at Rawthorpe.
“This could have been a golden opportunity to improve the Dram Centre, to make it financially stable and successful and to provide a really excellent facility for the people of Dalton,” he said.
“Instead it is an expensive, wasteful, missed opportunity.”
But Clr Jim Dodds, Cabinet member for children’s services, said the Dalton and Rawthorpe area needed a children’s centre.
He added: “It made sense to combine such a facility with a new library and information centre, as this allows us to offer a range of services on one site.”
