Photo courtesy of Express & Star 

Walsall’s Tory cabinet granted a 6 months stay of execution to Willenhall Leisure Centre at its meeting last night, or did it?

Speaking at the meeting the Leader of the council Mike Bird said:

“This is not a reprieve for Willenhall Leisure Centre. As of today there will be a stay of execution of six months maximum. Willenhall councillors have been very vocal saying that this is a disgrace, which is fair enough. If you think you can solve the problem with Willenhall baths then we will listen. We sincerely hope you will come up with a solution.

“The people of Willenhall need to be told – Use it or lose it- we can’t afford to subsidise £4.54 per person who goes through the centre.

“It’s down to the people of Willenhall and the Willenhall councillors to come up with a solution. After three months, if the report coming back to cabinet is not satisfactory, the leisure centre will be out of the door, let’s be patently clear” he said.

So it actually looks as if we have three months to come up with a solution to the problem of costs at Willenhall Leisure Centre and not the six months which has been banded about by senior Tories.

Well I’m up for the challenge. A meeting has already been called for next week to look at the extent of the problem and to hear some options which might help to meet the target set by the cabinet.

At the same time we need to make sure that users and the people of Willenhall are part of the solution. Everything should be ruled in and nothing ruled out. If Willenhall Leisure Centre is to weather this storm we will need to start thinking outside the box.

Leisure is not just about swimming, running and exercise, it’s also about jobs and eduction, we have a golden opportunity here to make Willenhall Leisure Centre the heart of our community.