Blow in fight to save baths
Campaigners trying to save Coseley Baths have failed in their latest bid to protect the building from the bulldozer – because it is not yet old enough to be awarded listed status.
Coseley Civic Society asked English Heritage whether the pool could be safeguarded but were told it was "too recent a construction", it has emerged.
Protestors have pointed to the "irony" of the building being too young to preserve but too damaged to restore.
The English Heritage blow was revealed in an email from planning bosses to Councillor Malcolm Davis.
Pete Boland, from the council's historic environment team, stated Coseley Civic Society "inquired as to whether the building could be listed but were advised by English Heritage that it was too recent a construction to justify this".
Councillor Davis said the situation was "a farce".
"You shouldn't build something without having the funds in reserve to maintain it," he said. "To have it thrown at you that it is too young to preserve shows what a nonsense this all is. It is something of an irony to be told that.
"You can't just install something and walk away from it. Who knows where it will be that closes next."
The pool in Pear Tree Lane will close after an inspection found £2million of works were required to bring it up to scratch.
