Soccer lease delay `not council's fault'

A DELAY in signing a lease for a junior football club to take over playing fields was not caused by Kirklees Council, a meeting was told.

Tory Martyn Bolt complained about the time it was taking to sort the future of the West Mills site at Battyeford.

Battyeford Sporting Club wants to take over the land after winning a huge lottery grant.

Clr Bolt told a meeting of the full Kirklees Council it had earlier been claimed that good progress was being made.

But 13 months after a cabinet decision to allow the club to have a lease, nothing had been signed.

Clr John Smithson, the council's deputy leader, said complex issues about a covenant on part of the part had to be resolved.

"Any delay is a legal matter and not the council's," he said.

The football club's bid for a lease was in doubt last year after bedding manufacturer John Cotton said it was interested in using the land for expansion.

But it was later agreed to press on with the plan for the football club to continue playing on the field.