A Halesowen councillor is urging Dudley Council to consider using the Pool Road car park as a potential site for a new borough leisure centre.

The cash-strapped council has confirmed plans have been drafted to close all three of the borough’s ageing leisure centres – and build two new ones – in a bid to save £25million.

Bosses confirmed they have derelict sites in Dudley and Lye in mind for the proposed centres, but Councillor Jeff Hill has asked the council to consider the “unfriendly” Halesowen cark park as a way of killing two birds with one stone. Speaking at a council meeting on Monday, the Hayley Green and Cradley South councillor said:

“Residents seem to be quite upset about the thought of losing a leisure centre in Halesowen and [facilities] possibly moving to Lye. Quite a lot of options have been explored, but I am concerned that none of them involve three replacement leisure centres, one of which could be in Halesowen.

“What I would ask is for the council to look at the Pool Road site. At the moment it is quite an unfriendly car park and this could be a way of killing two birds with one stone if we were able to move the existing leisure centre there and incorporate it into the Cornbow site.

“I have spoken to local traders and they feel that the loss of a leisure centre would hit them, but the loss of the parking spaces on Pool Road would not be detrimental because the current occupancy of it is very low.”

The council say their proposals drawn up to close the centres would save £1.75million and "revolutionise" local authority-provided leisure facilities in the borough. Councillor Khurshid Ahmed, Dudley’s cabinet member responsible for leisure, said:

“There is a feasibility study that is being carried out and there is a budget issue. But certainly, if that is one of the possibilities, then it should be looked at.”