Cost-cutting moves 'ruining town'

Willenhall is being "degenerated" instead of regenerated by council chiefs, it has been claimed amid controversial cost-cutting plans to shut the town's leisure centre.

Eighteen months of hard work spent improving the town has been soured, said Willenhall South councillor Sean Coughlan. "Why is it that in Wolverhampton the council is building leisure centres and Walsall Council are closing them, there has to be some real problems," he asked last night's regeneration scrutiny and performance panel meeting.

Cabinet member for regeneration councillor Adrian Andrew, faced criticism over the controversial proposal, which would save £216,565 next year.

A new Morrisons supermarket is being built in Wood Street, Willenhall, which town chiefs hoped would signal the start of a new era on the site of doomed lock factories.

But Councillor Coughlan said: "We have spent the last 18 months working together to regenerate our town and now the leisure centre is to be closed.

"This is degenerating-generating Willenhall not regenerating it. I appreciate it has been difficult, but the management at the centre have worked really hard to increase visitors and the investment that has been put into it beggars belief.

"Now we are expected to just dismiss that and push it to one side and say enough is enough.

"How can the people of Willenhall be expected to trust the regeneration team after this."

It follows news yesterday that more than £200,000 has been spent on the doomed building in Bath Street over the past two years including new central heating, lighting and protecting against legionnaires' disease.

Councillor Adrian Andrew told last night's meeting the recent spend was for "health and safety" reasons. "We tried as much as we possibly could to keep that facility open," he added.

The proposed closure is blamed on falling visitor numbers and the creation of the Wolverhampton Swimming and Fitness Centre in nearby Wednesfield. Willenhall has been hit hard financially in the last 12 months, with the loss of its historic Lock Museum because of funding problems. Meanwhile the town's football club is in financial crisis, and has put its ground in Noose Lane up for sale.