04 Mar 2013
Don Valley Stadium to close
BY Jessica Tasman-Jones
Sheffield City Council has voted to cut its £700,000 annual subsidy to Don Valley Stadium and shift athletics to Woodbourn Stadium, saving £6m over the next 10 years.
Councillors made the decision at their 1 March budget meeting where they were tasked with making £50m worth of savings for the next financial year starting in April.
The stadium, operated by Sheffield Valley Trust, will remain open until September to meet its existing commitments and allow time to relocate athletics to Woodbourn Stadium, which is around half a mile away and can be operated at a yearly cost of £70,000.
It was the training ground for London 2012 gold medallist Jessica Ennis, who has tweeted her disappointment at its closure.
Council analysis of Don Valley Stadium revealed the facility, built in 1990, required £1.6m in repairs and that the only justification for a stadium of its size was to host a major athletics event – something there was little prospect of in the foreseeable future.
Cabinet member for culture, sport and leisure, Isobel Bowler, said: “No-one wants to close Don Valley but we can no longer afford to subsidise it by £700,000 a year.”
The council also approved proposals to remove £400,000 of subsidies for the Stocksbridge Leisure Centre, although an extension has been given until the end April for the Stocksbridge community to progress alternative proposals.
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