Willenhall Leisure Centre to close
Friday 28th May 2010, 6:00PM BST.
Willenhall Leisure Centre will shut in September despite a desperate campaign from hundreds of people to save it, it was revealed today.
An outdoor activity centre used by Walsall schoolchildren since the 1960s is also being axed as part of cost-cutting measures by Walsall Council, which needs to save £50million over the next three years.
In February, council bosses agreed to give the Bath Street leisure centre a three-month stay of execution in a bid to let supporters prove they could increase use. Prices and opening hours were reduced and half the workforce was moved to other leisure centres.
But a report to the aurthority has revealed that the measures had also led to reduced attendance and income.
The ailing centre costs Walsall tax payers £456,700 a year to operate, whilst generating an annual income of £178,725. Attendances in 2009/10 were fewer than 92,000.
Leisure chief Anthony Harris said: “This has by no means been an easy decision.
“But frankly, we can’t afford to keep it open. We’re in a difficult financial position and tough decisions have to be made.”
Council leader Mike Bird, added: “It’s costing us an arm and a leg to subsidise it and the simple truth is it isn’t being used enough.”
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Cost cutting – how about cutting out the over manned Town Halls? Chidren need exercise, adults need exercise, but all these councils managers can do is close down and shut down facilities that their employers pay for. It is time council employees were interviewed for jobs by panels of public so that these non-jobs can be eliminated and the money spent on the facilities for the boroughs as they should be.
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Thank goodness we noved away
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I strongly agree with Karen. The immediate savings will help the budget woes but the long term effects may end up costing far more. The health issues regarding obesity is well known (diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease to name a few) and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them increase because of this action. Without these facilities children may resort to other avenues to occupy their time such as vandalism or other types of anti-social behavior. Instead of cutting these programs the government should not only find a way to keep them operating but also find ways to expand them and increase the participation of its citizens.
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One last idea on this topic. If courts order mandatory community service perhaps this would be an ideal program for that usage. The council would save money on labor costs, the citizens would have a better facility to exercise in and hopefully the people ordered to work there would get a sense of civic pride and possibly learn some skills to help them gain employment. Whether or not this scheme is feasible is not the point. The point is to use everyone’s input in finding a solution.
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Don’t forget this is part of a series of cuts. No-one wants to pay extra council tax, the council have to cut their budget – this is a lossmaker.
Fione, if people want to keep it, simply buy it from the council. Then try and run it on at least a break even basis.
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Why are people moaning about losing the facility when they clearly are not using it enough?
Yes there may be a knock on effect of poorer health in the area, but it comes down to economics and the lack of users means that people aren’t using it and therefore it costs more per user to use.
There has been lots of publicity about this and local residents were told to use or lose, and they voted to not use. Hence the decision.
I don’t see what the problem is really.
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I agree Karen.. I am covering this story for BBC WM.. any chance we can talk?
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Typical Miss-management once again.I doubt if Mike Bird has even been to the centre.I used to work for the Library service and there are Managers in charge of Managers from what I have seen.I don`t like to see anyone loose their job but to my mind a lot of money could be saved by streamlining the whole of the Library service.The only way Mike Bird and his cronies seem to know how to save money is by closing places down and making manual workers redundant.Wake up Mr.Bird and look through your staffing lists to see how many white-collar jobs are duplicated one way or another.
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First Brynty, now this.
Both under threat, then both put into review. Then low and behold after the election they go through again.
Karen, forget the peeps at the town hall they are the ones carrying the can. Ask the blooming consultants on hundreds of pounds a day or the useless top management that brings them in whilst getting massive pay rises themselves. Getting them to sack the people that are doing the hard graft serving the public won’t help anyone.
Criminal thing is that Willenhall Leisure closes a year or two after Darlaston Leisure Centre, and those in the western half of the borough can expect 8 years less life than those in the east.
This centre if marketed correctly, staffed properly and carefully can bring in money to the authority and provide a service that will benefit the community. AS it is we will get another vacant property, more unemplyed, no service and a poorer society as a result. Shocking.
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Not so sure that marketing it properly will have any effect.
The papers talking about its closure and the residents that talked of keeping it open didn’t seem to make it a lot more used in the past few months.
Fine if people want to keep the centre, just buy it from the council or tell the council which other service should be cut. Hey, how about the town centre swimming baths? How about some services for elderly?
Or how about some leisure facilities that are underused?
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What great memories I have of Willenhall Baths, where I grew up in the Seventies. From school sports, to Monday night swims, to Summer holiday fun, Christmas parties, and concerts. What a shame it has to close. I wonder how many famous bands have played there? Ed Dawes, I think the question you need to pose is: How can the population of Willenhall expand and the patronage of the facilities shrink? Where are the young of Willenhall finding their exercise and entertainment?
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they remove much needed facilities to help our younger generation and replace them with rubbish if at all…
they will build many mosques though, you see how many mosques there are compared to youth clubs and swimming pools etc…
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The real question is “Are leisure centres there to provide facilities or to make a profit?”
Call me old fashioned but I pay my taxes etc. etc….
I don’t pay my binmen any extra when my bin is emptied but I have paid for it to be done.
It appears that Mr.Bird and others like him think that if something is not in profit then it is being subsidised. Spreadsheet accounting for the stupid.
Apply this flawed logic to other areas and we would have no police, no fire service, no ambulances, no hospitals and probably no council – ‘ang on a sec….
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