A swimming pool earmarked for closure as part of town hall spending cuts has been thrown a lifeline following an impassioned community campaign.
Manchester council planned to close Levenshulme baths to help it find £109m savings in its budget.
But a town hall committee has done a u-turn – agreeing to look at ways to keep the much-loved community facility open.
The council's chief executive, Sir Howard Bernstein, will be asked to free up money to replace the dated baths with a modern, more cost effective facility. The Labour-led resources committee wants to see the baths kept open in the meantime.
The possibility of a reprieve has delighted campaigners who have drawn up banners to share the good news.
A report agreed by the committee this morning noted: “More comments were received about the future of Levenshulme Baths than about any other aspect of the proposed budget, and is impressed by the passion and commitment shown by local communities to this facility.”
It continued: (The committee) Notes nevertheless that the proposal to close the existing facility arose properly from an analysis which showed that it is a particularly expensive pool to operate, and that it will require considerable capital investment over the next few years to maintain it in a safe and useable state, and that even then operating costs would increase progressively due to the age and design of the building.
“(The committee) Resolves however, in the light of the strong arguments presented by local people, to ask the Chief Executive to bring forward a report on options for a capital investment to replace the Levenshulme pool with a modern facility which would be more cost effective in operation, and to identify options to keep the existing pool open until the replacement is available.”
At Levenshulme Baths, regular swimmers greeted the news with cheers and broad smiles.
"It's just fantastic," said teacher Amy Hodson as she led her class of year 4 pupils into the pool.
She said: "We come here every week, swimming is such an important skill for the children and we're all really really pleased."
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Her school, Stanley Grove Primary, sends more than 60 children a week to the Baths for swimming lessons.
Katrina Liggitt-Wright, 24, said: "The pool is essential to the community.
"When I was little this place was the centre of my social life. I've got a little sister who's 10 now and she's doing the exact same thing."
"Every part of the community comes here," the netball coach added.
Across the road from the Baths, shop owner Ibrahim (he is known only as Ibrahim...no surname) said he became tearful at the news.
He said: "A customer came in and told me and said it was on Twitter. When I first heard the news I didn't believe it.
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Now we need to protest and keep libraries and adventure playgrounds open. Funny how they can find the money when they have protesters about.
In other words, there is money floating around for services if there is some danger of MCC - rather than the government - getting the flak.
Colour me shocked.
Capital Investment by whom? Not the council surely?
''.....agreeing to look at ways to keep the much-loved community facility open''.
I though that they had supposeed to have done a comprehensive review and that these closures wqere the only option?
A bit like the con charge when we were told before and both immediately after that there was 'no plan b' and our erstwhile leader said that we had missed out for good and a couple of months later investment in metrlink appeared from nowhere.
Disgusting.
Well done to Love Levy Hate Cuts campaign!!
Well done to Love Levy Hate Cuts campaign!
Well done to Love Levy Hate Cuts Campaign!
Marie-Angelique Bueler, Friends of Levenshulme Convenor and Chair of the Save Our Baths campaign that has mobilized the community said, ’the people of Levenshulme, Longsight and Gorton have won a hugely significant victory in stopping this public service cut. It shows the power of protest to shift the agenda away from simply asking which service should close to an alternative option of ways to keep our communities alive when the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition government tries to ruin Manchester.
‘Every person that has spoken out against the closure of the Levenshulme Baths has won today. However, celebration is premature. We know that the ConDems want to cut for years to come and no public service is safe. We know that the Labour council has been trying to close Levenshulme Baths for twenty years. We know that other services are threatened across Manchester and every one that is closed will increase the pressure to close more.
‘Manchester and Britain needs an alternative to the destruction of our services and communities. The Save Our Baths campaign will keep pushing for a better service that is publicly funded. We want to produce alternative proposals for keeping and improving services in Manchester and for strengthening our communities rather than letting them be destroyed.
‘Levenshulme Baths is not just a swimming pool. It is like a community centre with a gym, sauna, steam room, massage room, clubs for women, over 50s, children. It has the only training pool in South Manchester for children to learn to swim and four local schools use it for lessons. Because of previous closures, it serves people across South East Manchester and requires expansion not closure. Our community has demonstrated that it deserves a better future than has been offered and we will keep fighting for it.’
Thank you to all those campaigners that constructively engaged in dialogue and have helped to find a solution to some of the consequences of the unfair settlement. No thanks go to the Liberal Democrats and their Tory chums who are doing their utmost to attack jobs & Public services.
This campaign was run by the PEOPLE of Levenshulme, not any one individual. I am very proud to be part of a campaign organised, mobilised and WON by the Levenshulme community, WELL DONE LEVENSHULME PEOPLE!!
This was a superb grass routes campaign, no party can claim credit for this - although doubtless they will..
This is a victory for the community and for the group that rose out of those few women on the baths as the cuts announcement was made - Love Levy Hate Cuts.
Well, as a member of the group who have established and maintained the "Love Levy Hate Cuts" I would have loved to have seen Friends of Levenshulme get involved with the campaign... I asked the members of the group to circulate information and was informed that this had already been done! When I checked the information was sat waiting on the FOL website and facebook... I personally have never heard of Marie-Angelique Bueler or any of the events that she has organised, but I've been to all of the Love Levy Hate Cuts gatherings and I'm still waiting to see a member of FOL or, indeed, Marie-Angelique... All I have seen is vast numbers of community spirit in action, and that is why I will support them wholeheartedly with what they have and WILL do.
With a loud enough voice, we will be heard.
As a member of the group "Love Levy Hate Cuts" I have been astounded by their progress and have approached founding members about contacting Friends Of Levenshulme... The response was that the information had already had been passed on, and when I checked the FOL website and Facebook, this was indeed the case.
I have attended all of the Love Levy Hate Cuts gatherings and I have yet to see or hear from Miss Bueler, but I know she, and her party, have been contacted.
I will wholeheartedly follow and support Love Levy Hate Cuts with all of their current and future ventures, because I truly believe that with a big enough voice we will be heard... as far as I can see, FOL is quite a small voice, and could do with gaining greater power so that they can see the results, as LLHC have today...
Of course. That might be because there was a large open steering committee that met at Inspire community centre that elected Marie-Angelique Bueler as its chair. The campaign was launched at a meeting of 150 people that agreed to convene the open steering committee. This ran a powerful campaign called Save Our Baths including national news exposure and met each week. It included a broad range of opinions and expressed its willingness to work with anyone opposed to the closure of Levy Baths. It will continue to do so as far as I know.
Now all you need is the locals to pay full price to use the baths and then maybe it would sustain itself.most places like these will be self funding if people paid but i beleive MCC has been sponsoring the upkeep of the place, so now the time for people to pay the piper.
now let's see the hated lib dems kicked out of levenshulme
The large open meeting for FOL was advertised everywhere by Love Levy Hate cuts. Love Levy have had hugly successful events - FOL not present at any. LLHC have had amazing meetings. FOL have set up Save Our baths and state they are the Respect party. Get a grip; the community saved the baths. Bitter, twisted polticos living in their own Soap Opera need to buy a DVD if you wanna watch some drama. Everyone celebrated tonight and where were FOL/Respect and the Lib Dems; sulking. Do one.
Anywhere you pay a couple of quid and can drink all you want, needs saving in my opinion.
Is there more to this than is being reported, as the campaigners appear to think that the leisure centre is to stay open, while the report states that councillors have asked for money to be made available to build a new facility, and identify options to keep it running for now.
Which seems very different to any money actually being allocated for either purpose.
Could the MEN, campaign groups or the council communications officer possibly clarify?
Just demolish that uneconomical, filthy dirty, decrepit hole you call "levy Baths" and take a ten minute bus ride to the £32 million Manchester Aquatics Centre, I used take two buses to go to "Gorton Tub" when i was a kid, loved it.
This is a poor decision by the politicians, and simply means that cuts have to be made elsewhere. The pool and centre continually made a loss, requires some significant capital investment and is unfit for use. Why not simply get the 192 bus up towards Manchester and then walk across to the very well located and equipped aquatics centre?
Now we just have to wait for next week to see what else will be axed that will pay for saving this run down pool.
Its down to that big place on Oxford Rd called the Aquatics Centre ! The council wants everyone to go there instead. A poorly thought out Commonwealth games red herring. Gorton Tub, Moston, lots of pools have gone...then there has been the difficulty of funding Victoria Baths. The City Council has plenty of funds available when it wants to do a deal...there are no deals or is that supermarkets wanting to develop Levenshulme Baths !
What a relief! I am an older person determined to keep fit, in order to preserve my independence well into old age. Swimming is an important part of my routine and no other pool is at all convenient to me. I am sure many people feel the same. The Council should consider the cost of looking after pensioners in Manchester who are not fit. I am sure that keeping leisure and fitness facilities open is more cost effective to the Council in the long run. Did they give much thought to how much it costs the Council to keep unfit pensioners in old folks' homes? The more of us who stay fitter longer, the less a burden we are to the Council. Longsight Liz
Let's hope they don't go back on this in a few months. Longsight Liz
OK.....what's the stistics....how many people have actually used the place over the past 2 years
The accountants have the numbers...
so it's all well and good people getting off their bums and protesting....but does anyone, or do significant numbers, actually use the place??
If not, drop a bomb on it and build something that people WILL use....like a playground.