A PLANNED £2 million sports centre for Asians has been criticised by councillors for promoting segregation.

Members say that any new centre must serve the whole community if local taxpayers are to help pay for it.

The Asian Development Association of Bury has been talking to Bury Council for more than a year about the project, which would serve principally the Asian community of East Bury.

It has asked the local authority to donate land at Wellington Road, Bury, next to the Grundy Day Care Centre, on which to build the centre. The cost is estimated at between £1.5 million and £2 million.

ADAB would raise cash to build the centre from the private sector, the National Lottery and contributions from the community. It would provide indoor and outdoor sports and recreation facilities, host Asian arts and cultural groups, along with Asian weddings and other social events. However, Tory councillor Dorothy Gunther has "questioned the wisdom" of Bury helping out "on the grounds that we are all equal and that we should be striving for greater integration in society and not be seen to be supporting segregation in any form".

Fellow Tory councillor Roy Walker added: "I am surmising that this is mainly for the Pakistani community. I have no problem with that, if they buy the land from us and raise the rest from the Lottery or Europe or wherever."

He said: "Asians and others have a lot of concern about this item. Nearby schools, social services and charities have been told they cannot use this land. I am seeking an assurance that there's no council money going into this project at all."

Their worries, raised at a full council meeting, echo concerns expressed by the Bury East area board. Some residents said that racial tensions in the area, which has the highest proportion of Asians in the borough, were running high.

Labour councillor Mike Connolly, also chairman of the Bury East area board, agreed that Bury should be seeking an integrated centre which would serve the whole community.

Coun Connolly added: "If an application for financial assistance were to be received, it would considered on its merits and the benefits to the local community."

ADAB has already responded to such criticism, indicating that the centre would provide facilities for the other sectors of the community in Bury - not just Asians.

They stress that such a project would fill a gap in the provision of amenities for the Asian community in East Bury

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