Plan to axe leisure centre

Jobs will be shed at Walsall Council and departments across the authority will be ordered to slash their spending as part of draft budget proposals.

These are due to go before the decision-making cabinet on Wednesday. Savings of more than £11.2 million have been outlined through "efficiencies" across all services and a drive to generate more income, and chiefs are warning of more to come.

The authority will also look to save £280,000 in landfill costs by increasing recycling above existing targets, while even the Mayor's stand-in chauffeur will be axed.

Council leader Mike Bird today admitted that setting the budget had been "hard work" given the anticipated drop in government funding.

But he said it was expected that the reduction in jobs would be made through not filling vacant posts – avoiding compulsory redundancies.

Councillor Bird said the recent opening of the Wednesfield Swimming and Fitness Centre, across the border in Wolverhampton, had affected the number of people using Willenhall Leisure Centre.

"It's been hit very hard by the new centre and far fewer people are going through the doors," he said.

"With less and less disposable income, leisure is not at the top of people's agendas at the moment.

"I think that in the next two or three years, leisure centres across the borough will come under threat and some of them will disappear."

If the cabinet approves the draft proposals they will be discussed by the council's scrutiny and performance panels as part of a general consultation period.