AN OUTDOOR pursuit course which opened less than three years ago has closed for good, leisure bosses said.

Colne’s Urban Altitude shut in April after a lack of regular bookings meant the centre was not earning as much revenue as expected.

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But yesterday Alison Goode, chief executive of Pendle Leisure Trust, confirmed the facility next to the town’s leisure centre would not be reopening as it had proved ‘not to be as popular as first thought’.

Community leaders described the announcement as ‘disappointing’ and questioned whether it had been ‘adequately promoted’.

The 42ft high facility at Crown Way was said to be the first of its kind in the country and was ‘unique’ for having an urban location.

It was home to a 60-metre zip-wire and other rope course trials built around an activity tower.

Tory councillor Joe Cooney, leader of the opposition in Pendle, said he believed there was a ‘lack of will’ by the leisure trust to keep Urban Altitude open and accused them of letting it ‘wither on the vine’.

He said: “It hasn’t been adequately promoted or marketed to bring visitors to Colne.

“I can only assume that certain officers and elements of the council wanted to close it by stealth.

“They made absolutely no announcement that the facility had closed and undertook no consultation with anyone.

“Did they expect no one to notice that they had shut it down and it wasn’t going to reopen?

“This area should be used for leisure for the people of Colne and visitors to the town.

“I have a suspicion that some elements within the council will now want to sell the land off for development.”

Urban Altitude was a joint venture between Pendle Leisure Trust and Alliance Leisure and was supported by Pendle Council.

Cllr Dorothy Lord, who represents Waterside, said: “Unfortunately it is one of those things that hasn’t worked out.

“Places like this have got to be well used to make it work and sadly it wasn’t as well used as first thought.

“Initially it was a great idea, but with the cut backs it has to go.

“I do hope it can be used as a leisure facility again but it would cost money to do so, and there isn’t a lot of it about.”

Andrew Stephenson, Pendle MP, said he was disappointed the fairly new facility was closed.

He said: “Urban Altitude hasn’t been open long and it had replaced an all weather pitch that was well liked and very well used in the borough.

“It is very disappointing to see facility it has now closed.

“And it brings the big question, what is going to happen now?

“Is it going to be another facility that could attract a lot of people to Pendle? Or will it revert back to being an all weather pitch?

“Pendle Council isn’t giving Colne a good deal, they already have a range of services being closed.

“I would be asking if this facility was marketed properly.”

Alison Goode said the closure was a financial decision.

She said: “Since Pendle Leisure Trust’s inception we have introduced new and improved facilities and activities into the trust’s portfolio such as Inside Spa and Urban Altitude.

“We have and are still constantly looking at new innovations to improve leisure in Pendle and Urban Altitude was one of these.

“Investing and building Urban Altitude has shown that we as a trust can be innovative but unlike the success of some of our other ventures, unfortunately this facility hasn’t been as popular as we first thought.

“Along with the amount of staffing and training required on an ongoing basis and the lack of regular bookings this facility has not generated the revenue that was initially forecast at the outset.

“The last thing we as a trust want to do is close facilities however in the current financial climate Urban Altitude had to contribute financially and this just hasn’t been the case.”