2,000 join battle for Walsall's Gala Baths future
Around 2,000 campaigners have joined the fight to save Walsall's Gala Baths, and they have now handed in a petition to Parliament.
The battle was launched when the future of the town centre site was thrown into doubt as part of a council review of leisure facilities in the Walsall borough.
Council bosses have admitted that closure is an option. A total of 1,938 users of the baths have now signed a petition calling for its future to be safeguarded.
It was handed in at the House of Commons last night by Valerie Vaz MP for Walsall South.
She said: "The strength of feeling locally on this issue cannot be ignored. Nearly 2,000 users of the Gala Baths have made it unambiguously clear that this unique community asset must remain open in Walsall town centre."
She said the health statistics for the borough made it 'vital' that the local authority encouraged more people to take up exercise.
"Around 7.7 per cent of adults in the borough suffer from diabetes, 27.8 per cent are classed as obese, only 21.8 per cent eat healthily and only 7.8 per cent exercise enough according to Department for Health figures," she said.
Campaigners have shown particular concern for the future of the brine pool at the Tower Street baths, which is the only one of its kind in the West Midlands. The water is said to have health benefits.
Two new leisure centres are planned for the borough – one at Oak Park in Walsall Wood and one in Bloxwich.
Leisure boss Anthony Harris today stressed no decisions had been made about the future of the Gala Baths. "We are reviewing the entire leisure provision in the borough," he said.
