Leading Tory accuses Wolverhampton Council of rewarding university for shutting sports centre.
A council's decision to offer cut-price leisure activities to students after a university shut its sports hall has come under fire from a leading Conservative.
Councillor Simon Bennett, opposition leader on Wolverhampton Council, accused the authority of rewarding the city's university for plans to close its own sports hall.
Wolverhampton University's decision to close down its sports centre in Deanery Place was announced in January as part of a controversial shake-up which will also see its Telford Campus close and the landmark School of Art building demolished.
The sports hall will make way for a new medical school, which will accept its first students in September 2026.
Councillor Bennett said the university sports centre attracted 13,000 visits last year from 155 registered student members. In response to the planned closure, the council announced a new £10 monthly membership at its WV Active centres in Aldersley, Bilston and the city centre.
Councillor Bennett said this was cheaper than both the current student concessionary rate of £13.20 per month and the university gym membership of £12 per month.
He said the new scheme would give thousands of students, including more than 6,000 from overseas, access to discounted gym memberships, swimming, fitness classes, and reduced court hire fees,. while no such deal would be offered to other groups, such as pensioners.
Councillor Bennett said: “Labour’s message is clear: shut down your own sports facilities and we’ll reward you with even cheaper deals at the taxpayer’s expense.
"Instead of standing up for sport in Wolverhampton and pushing the university to keep its city campus gym open, they’ve rolled over and handed them a sweetener.
"Our priority should be to protect access to sport for all Wolverhampton residents, especially our homegrown young people, not to subsidise the fallout from bad decisions made by the University’s leadership.”
He said the Conservative group was calling for the council to reconsider the arrangement, ensuring fairness in concessionary rates with other groups.
He said the council should actively push for the university to reinstate accessible city-based sports facilities for its own students.
Councillor Obaida Ahmed, Wolverhampton Council's cabinet member for health, wellbeing and community, said: "As a council, we work proactively in partnership with organisations, clubs, governing bodies and Sport England to protect and improve as many of our city's physical activity spaces as we can.
"Where this is not possible, such as in this case where the university is using its space to create a state-of-the-art medical school, we support people to access alternative ways of staying active. We are pleased to be working with the university to enable its students, the vast majority of whom live locally, to access the fantastic facilities that are available through our WV Active leisure service."
Pete Cross, the university's chief operating officer, said: "The University of Wolverhampton is investing in a new medical school to meet regional healthcare needs, and the closure of the city campus sports centre is part of a wider strategy to optimise our estate and reinvest in student priorities.
"We’ve partnered with WV Active to ensure students still have affordable access to high-quality fitness facilities across the city. This move is a responsible solution that supports student wellbeing and community integration. We remain committed to enhancing sport and leisure access for all students and welcome constructive dialogue.”
