We want to swim at Moseley Road Baths

Lead petitioner : Friends of Moseley Road Baths

Status: New > Draft > Rejected > Accepted > Collecting signatures > Awaiting submission > Submitted > Pending owner response > Closed > Withdrawn

Status: Submitted

Petition

NO TO COUNCIL PLANS TO END SWIMMING AT MOSELEY ROAD BATHS

We the undersigned oppose Birmingham City Council’s proposals to end public swimming provision at Moseley Road Baths in Balsall Heath.

We demand our councillors represent the wishes of their constituents and fight to keep public swimming at Moseley Road Baths.

We ask that the Council seek investment to secure the long term future of the building as a public swimming and heritage facility.

Background information

Birmingham City Council have announced their intention to close Moseley Road Baths for swimming from 2015.

They were on the brink of submitting a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund which for £3 million match funding would have secured the future of the building as a swimming facility for another 25 years, attracted £5 million investment and seen the Edwardian Grade II* listed building turned into a heritage attraction.

This bid was supported by councillors themselves, council officers, pool users, local schools, community groups and hundreds of local people who responded to the consultation.

Their decision not to invest in the facility at this crucial point and close the building to swimming will have the following impacts:

- Local children will not learn to swim, failing to meet the national requirement to be able to swim 25 metres by the time they leave Primary School.
- The physical and mental health of people who rely on the pool to swim will suffer.
- An abandoned building in the centre of Balsall Heath will become an eyesore, attract vandalism and tarnish the image of Balsall Heath. This will in turn impact on the local economy.

It is vital that the Council commits to investing in swimming, in our city's important heritage, and in Balsall Heath