82% of survey respondents call for restoration over relocation
A meeting to discuss the what the future holds for Acton Baths was held on Friday 10th July with more than 50 members of the community filled the building's Dance Studio.
Organised by Friends of Acton Baths, the meeting was an opportunity for all interested parties to air their views about Ealing Council's proposals to move the historic baths to a new location in Acton as part of their plans to regenerate the town centre.
At the meeting, an officer from the council said the recent consultation showed that 82% of respondents (750 filled in surveys of the 26,000 which were said to have been delivered = 3% response rate) said they wanted to keep community facilities (the pool, Priory Centre, library etc) in the Town Hall area and not further south.
A commitment was made by the officer for the open responses to this consultation to be made available on the council’s website however no date was given as to when this would be done.
An architect explained to the audience that the cost of renovation/repair was higher than building a new swimming pool. Also he stated that the running costs would be more if a renovation option was taken up. Also better disability facilities would be provided if a new facility was created from scratch. Funding for the new pool would come partly from the council selling land for homes as well as money gained by a larger gym.
Speaking at the meeting, a Chiswick resident said, “There is a real atmosphere here. It’s not the same in Chiswick or at other pools. I have made a lot of friends through going to the pool in Acton.”
An Acton-based man added, “The Council need to listen! When they installed cubicals a long time ago they had to take them down, after wasting probably hundreds of thousands of pounds, since the floor was made of wood and rotted.”
Southfield Ward Lib Dem Councillor Gary Malcolm, who attended the meeting, said, “Clearly the residents want to retain as much of the building as is possible. The Council needs to listen to its residents and not bulldozer through a plan to replace the unique and atmospheric pool with a lackluster pool and gym complex.”
The Friends of Acton Baths (FAB) was set up in 1985 as a campaigning group to save Acton Baths from decay and closure. They were successful, and in 1990 Ealing Council spent two-and-a-half million pounds restoring the Baths. That restoration was due to last 20 years, a period that elapses next year.
July 15, 2009
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