Exclusive

MOSELEY BATHS LEAK CONFIRMED

04-01-2008

The secret report into the future of Birmingham’s historic Moseley Road Baths - extensively leaked on this website - has finally been made public. It confirms what our readers already know but even now, bungling council officials have failed to make all the details available.

We recently put in a Freedom of Information request demanding to know the full details of a consultants' assessment of the Grade 2* listed Edwardian pools – this followed comments by the city’s Cabinet Member for Leisure Ray Hassall who suggested that refurbishing them would be “barmy” (see link here)

It was claimed just a fortnight ago that the information (initially due to be published last autumn) wouldn’t be made available until spring, but our challenge to Hassall to release it into the public domain has had a positive response – well sort of.

A Council press release issued last night contains the report and confirms what we had already reported – that there are two main options for the future.

One is to retain both existing pools at a cost of around £20million; the other is to keep the main pool, but convert the smaller one to community use at around £23 million.

What the report in its currently published form doesn’t make clear is that the more expensive option is accompanied by an upbeat business case, suggesting it could break even after just nine years.

This information is contained in a later draft, and is obviously vital ammunition to the pro-baths lobby. Why is it missing, we wonder?

Still, we welcome the new spirit of glasnost, which means we can all now have a proper discussion.

On this site recently, Steve Beauchampe argued passionately for a “two pool” solution (see link here).

Another campaigner Russ Spring has also set out his vision (see link here).

Now you can read (a version of) the official consultants’ report and judge for yourself here http://tinyurl.com/2os47s