Having brought flowers, condolence, and thankyou cards, we proceeded to place these tributes on and around part of the fence.
We had created The Wall of Shame - a shrine to Coseley Baths and protest against Dudley Council turning its back on local people and doing what it likes with their facilities.
We had excercised our right to freedom of expression under the European Convention on Human Rights - a legal framework created in the 1940s to prevent the then recent horrors of fascism. Sadly, all our tributes were removed under cover of darkness, before 5:45am, on the morning of Monday, the 22nd of March.
Even the potted-flowers we had planted did not escape removal!
Was this an act of lock-down for the thought-police?
Was this at the behest of some property-developer wanting to put houses on the site and who else had something to gain?
You decide as you peruse the Coseley Baths Wall of Shame:
On the morning of Tuesday the 23rd of March, just over a day since the above was removed, much of it was affixed to the inside of the fence:
Because they are inside the gates, this website is still the only place where you can actually read all of our tributes to Coseley Baths.
Meanwhile, a few more items have turned-up again on the outside of the fence, including an advert for this website:
By the evening of Friday, the 26th of March, more had been added:
Click on any picture for a larger copy on its own page.
I think that all the names of the Councillors' who took this decision should be posted on this site to 'NAME AND SHAME' them.
ReplyDeleteI will start the ball rolling, here are the North Dudley Area Committee that wanted the pool closed at any cost:
ReplyDeleteCllr Doreen Ameson (Con) Ward: Upper Gornal and Woodsetton
Cllr David Caunt (Con) Ward: Sedgley
Cllr Michael Evans (Con) Ward: Sedgley
Cllr Anne Millward (Con) Ward: Gornal
Cllr Julian Ryder (Con) Ward: Upper Gornal and Woodsetton
Cllr David Simms (Con) Ward: Upper Gornal and Woodsetton
Cllr David Stanley(Con) Ward: Gornal
Cllt Timothy Wright (Con) Ward: Gornal
I saw the rubble a week ago. It was a very sad experience - I got all of my swimming awards at Coseley Baths and it was obviously such an important part of the community.
ReplyDeleteWhy couldn't Dudley Council have spent money on the roof years ago, as well as refurbishing the whole interior that had hardly changed since 1963? It could have been such a bright, modern looking pool if the Council were willing to have spent money in the early 80s or even before.
Now all we have is Hilton Hall. I also need to make the Spring Vale Ward councillors more aware of the area's heritage - they forget that parts of Coseley UDC make up the ward. Coseley UDC's 1000th council house is also located by Hilton Hall - it has a plaque saying the property was unveiled by Councillor J.T. Wilson who was of course the person responsible for Coseley getting a swimming baths in the first place.
This website is ridiculous!! Just a pathetic swipe at a decision which has been put through the democratic process.
ReplyDeleteLet's go through the reasons why the baths were closed.
1. Inspectors deemed the concrete roof to be unstable due to weathering within the concrete. It therefore had to be closed as it was a risk to the public. No argument.
2. So it closed. What next? Do we spend millions fixing the roof or shall we just build a new one? Coseley Baths already had the lowest usage for swimming baths in Dudley. Millions was invested into the baths, but every 'cheaply built' building has a use by date. So it had to close. Plus the neighbouring authority is building a brand new swimming baths. Which is just over a mile away. This will take even more people away from Coseley to these new baths. We will then only have a select group of people that use Coseley Baths. Anyone with a brain would realise that two competing competitors in a small market will lead to the closure of the most delapidated one. Simple economics.
3. This smear campaign against these Cllrs is unjust. The democratic decision was taken by elected representatives. Not one of the 72 councillors voted against it. Fact. This Socialist fuelled smear cmapaign is an insult to democracy. Your camapign is disgusting and I hope that these lies and smears will come back to haunt you Mr Wilkes. You had the chance to vote these Cllrs out but instead local people backed them. The Conservative support at the locals even increased at the recent local elections.
It's in the past. Move on.
My response was triggering an error so I have given it, and the above comment, its own page. Click the above tab marked:-
ReplyDeleteResponse to Malicious Comments