Council planners have given the green light to demolishing an old community centre, which served as a base for local gatherings in part of west Leeds for decades.
Leeds City Council has approved plans to knock down Becketts Park Community Centre on Queenswood Drive, Kirkstall, alongside an old day centre next door, to make way for new homes.
The community centre has been empty for the past seven years, with the building now in a serious state of disrepair.
The local authority said it was cheaper to demolish the venue, first built in the early 1960s, than to bring it up to scratch.
The day centre, once used by vulnerable adults, was shut by the council in 2013 to save money.
Separate planning applications have been put forward by the council for each demolition.
Demolition work will begin at the turn of the year.
In its planning application for the mothballing of the day centre, the council wrote: “The proposals will not reduce or remove the care of our most vulnerable people now or in the future.
“As the building is surplus to requirements, the proposal contributes to the city’s and council’s ambitions through reducing the risk of crime and anti-social behaviour and reducing the costs of securing and maintaining a building while being kept in void which is no longer required.
“The site would then be used for redevelopment of housing growth.”
Read the plans in full here.
West Leeds Dispatch‘s Cutswatch series has been following budget cuts and their impact here.