Keighley Cougars will now not be given £2m funding

More than £2m in planned funding will no longer be handed to a local rugby club, Bradford Council has announced.

Keighley Cougars were earmarked to receive £2.25m in Keighley Towns Fund cash to rebuild the Danny Jones stand and create new facilities at Cougar Park.

Despite the money being set aside more than four years ago, the funding was never handed out.

The Reform-run council announced the club would now not get the funding, as it said the Cougars "have not been able to provide sufficient information to demonstrate the viability of their proposed project".

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Keighley and Ilkley MP Robbie Moore said he was "absolutely furious" with the news.

In 2019 the then-Conservative government announced that Keighley would be one of dozens of areas across the UK to receive at least £25m through its Towns Fund - a scheme that would see money awarded to areas to boost regeneration.

A Towns Fund board made up of local business leaders, public figures and politicians would be set up in each area to allocate where the cash should be spent, and the Keighley Towns Fund board made the Keighley Cougars project one of its priorities.

The board's meetings are not held in public, but at the most recent meetings the Cougars project was deemed "at risk" because of "due diligence and deliverability issues".

Moore, who is a member of the Towns Fund board, raised the delay in the funding being awarded to the Cougars in Parliament earlier this week.

The LDRS asked Bradford Council, which is responsible for distributing the funding, for a response to Moore's speech.

Councillor Andrew Judson (Reform, Keighley West) and Bradford Council's Executive Member for Economy, Regeneration and Planning, said: "Following the initial prioritisation of this proposal in the overall Towns Fund bid, we have been working closely with the club leadership to explore every possible option for them to meet the assurance criteria needed to access Towns Fund support.

"Successful Towns Fund bids do have to meet a number of required standards to ensure that the use of public funding is reasonable.

"Unfortunately, the Cougars have not been able to provide sufficient information to demonstrate the viability of their proposed project and because of this, the funding cannot be provided.

"We wish the club well and remain committed to working with them where possible to realise their ambitions on and off the pitch in the years ahead."

Moore said the council had told him it was "looking to reprioritise the funds".

He said: "I am absolutely furious that we have reached this point.

"The Cougars are one of the beating hearts of our town. They are far more than a rugby league club.

"They bring our community together, inspire young people and are a source of immense pride for our town.

"Cougar Park is used by many others and therefore it is right that we have a sporting facility which is fit for many generations to come."

Keighley Cougars have been contacted for a comment.

On Monday, the club shared the MP's comments on Facebook, saying: "We're grateful to our MP Robbie Moore for taking the fight for the new Cougars stand to the House of Commons.

"Robbie worked tirelessly to achieve the funding for a new Cougars stand, with a range of incredible facilities which will be fantastic for the whole community.

"Keighley deserves and needs these new facilities."

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