Tip to reopen as cash 'disinvested' from arts fund

Bradford Council's leadership is pushing ahead with plans to divert £400,000 earmarked for arts and culture events to reopen a household waste recycling centre.

Sugden End Household Waste Recycling Centre is now expected to reopen before the end of the year, while bank holiday opening will also be restored at recycling centres across the district.

The tip near Keighley was one of three closed by the previous Labour-run administration in 2024 as part of wider cost-cutting measures.

At a meeting on Tuesday at City Hall, the current Reform UK-led executive reversed the decision.

Council leader Stephen Place confirmed it would be financed by "disinvesting in previously budgeted proposals" and would "improve accessibility and retain value for money".

The money had initially been approved for activities including festivals, heritage projects and live music, as well as support for local community cultural organisations.

The decision came despite an outcry from the creative sector about the potential impact on cultural events and benefits.

However, thousands had also previously signed petitions to save the three tips ultimately closed by the previous administration.

Golden Butts and Ford Hill have since been sold, but Sugden End remains in the council's possession.

The council's top finance officer will have to sign off the decision after the council's opposition Labour group questioned whether Reform's executive had the power to scrap funding that had been voted for by the council six months ago.

During the meeting, Reform councillors said it was not scrapping Bradford's culture budget entirely, with Place stressing the council's total culture budget for 2026/27 was £7m.

Deputy leader and culture spokesman Andrew Judson said: "This isn't a £400,000 reduction in anything, this is the reallocation of a £400,000 growth uplift."

Labour group leader Imran Khan disagreed, arguing: "There's £400,000 in the pot for events. You're taking that away. That's a reduction."

The group said the "small pot of money" it oversaw being approved in March had been designed to put relatively small amounts within reach of grassroots organisations wanting to stage events in their own communities.

Susan Fricker, a Labour councillor for Bingley, urged the executive to make sure all decisions were "rational, responsible and evidence based".

But others on the Conservative benches suggested that the initial decision to close Sugden End and the other tips had been "ill-conceived".

Khan told the meeting Labour also now supported reopening the tip, but said the council's financial circumstances had changed because of additional funding from the Labour government.

"It doesn't have to be one or the other," Khan said.

"It's a political choice, so you can do both."

Place said Reform had not engaged in "political point-scoring" since taking power and had focused on sorting out the financial "basket case" it inherited.

Responding to Khan's point, he said: "Yes, it is a political choice, of course it is, because we have no other choice", adding his option was "to help Bradford and particularly the people of Keighley at this time".

When Labour led the council, the Conservatives had already proposed removing the same £400,000 arts and culture allocation and putting money towards reopening Sugden End.

During Tuesday's meeting, Conservative chief whip Geoff Winnard said scarce resources should be concentrated on "getting the basics right" before spending on "the more frivolous nice-to-have extras".

While dismissing any suggestion the Conservatives were operating as a "soft coalition" with Reform, Winnard added: "My colleagues have always made clear we'll support the executive when they're coming up with sensible pragmatic decisions which are in the interests of our residents."

Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.