PLANS for a new leisure and entertainment venue in Radcliffe could be scuppered by council budget cuts.

Cllr Jane Lewis, the council’s deputy leader, warned residents at tonight’s Radcliffe Township Forum that a proposed scheme to build the multimillion pound centre on the site of the old Radcliffe Pool, in Green Street, could be under threat.

Bury Council is currently carrying out a public consultation on plans to slash £32 million from its budget over the next three years.

And Cllr Lewis says that those cuts, which will come on top of £65 million worth of spending reductions since 2010, have put the proposed state-of-the-art venue scheme at risk.

She said: "Ideally, we would like to build the new leisure centre. Whether we can fund it given the cuts we are inheriting, I would not like to say.

"At the moment we provide the temporary leisure centre and, even though it is temporary, usage has gone up.

"We are looking at what we can do with the old site and clearly the people of Radcliffe need that provision, we know that.

"It is actually a lot more difficult for us than we thought it was going to be. That's not to say we aren't exploring it, because we are."

When the closure and subsequent demolition of Radcliffe Civic Suite was announced in 2015, the council revealed that it was planning to build a new venue in Green Street which would act as a long-term replacement for both the civic hall and the leisure centre.

The old swimming pool was also demolished last year, having closed when storm damage suffered in 2013 revealed major structural decay.

A temporary leisure facility and swimming pool was opened at the old Radcliffe Riverside High School, which Cllr Lewis said the council is happy with.

She said: "We do appreciate that Radcliffe has lost facilities. We are looking at redeveloping the old leisure centre site, but we don't know at the moment what will be there."

Cllr Lewis added: "The temporary centre has been a positive and clearly people are using it.

"We have invested in the Red Bank Extra Care Scheme and the new bus station, and we are on the verge of getting a Lidl in the town centre. Hopefully that will make the town centre more viable and bring in more traders on the back of it.

"But these are long term things that will take years to come to fruition."

Residents at the meeting, at Radcliffe United Reformed Church, were told to expect "very difficult" years ahead because of the budget cuts.

During a presentation given alongside the council’s chief finance officer, Steve Kenyon, Cllr Lewis said that Bury Council had already faced massive cuts since 2010 and has traditionally received far lower government funding than the national or Greater Manchester average.

She said: "We have managed those cuts well so far and I don't think people have noticed much of a difference in our services. I would like to tell you that that will continue, but I think that would be a lie.

"I think that the next three years are going to be very difficult."

The council will set its budget for the next financial year in February and is currently carrying out a public consultation on its plans.

To view the budget proposals, visit Bury.gov.uk/budget201720

The consultation closes on January 31.