Closure threat for town's baths

Cannock's leisure centre could close within three years if the money is not found to keep it on its feet, the council's leader said today.

Councillor Neil Stanley said the condition of Chase Leisure Centre was deteriorating and he feared it could close its doors in less than three years if money from the sale of Cannock Stadium and other sources was not raised.

The centre is earmarked for redevelopment as part of the creation of the planned £20 million Chase Leisure Village.

The ambitious project needs money from the sale of Cannock Stadium to help fund it as well as other facilities across the district.

The planned upgrade of the Prince of Wales Theatre also relies on the sale of the stadium land.

Councillor Stanley said: "It's crucial that the money is raised by the sale otherwise the consequences are absolutely dire for Cannock.

"Any money raised from the sale of the stadium and other sources of funding, we are going to use to replace the leisure centre and some other facilities.

"If we don't raise the money it would close, as soon as three years' time possibly even earlier.

"The bottom line is that without that money coming in, we won't have the money to either replace or patch up existing facilities. Inevitably we're in a situation that unless someone wins the lottery and donates £10m to the council or we find another source it will close.

"In the case of the leisure centre it's condition has been allowed to deteriorate over the years. We either find an amount of money to keep it safe or, better than that, replace it with new facilities to attract people across the district."

He added that the cost to patch up the leisure centre alone has been estimated to run into hundreds of thousands of pounds over the next two years.