Balsall Heathan # 261 Dec 2006 - St. Paul's Community Trust

Balsall Heath Forum Focus
The Baths and Civic
Centre for Balsall Heath
by Chris McGuinness
One hundred years ago, the Moseley Road Library was built. It was
an era when the book ruled and everyone needed to read and write to
get on. But, most people could not afford to buy their own books.
At the same time, the Baths were built next door. It was an era when
Balsall Heath’s terraced houses had no bathrooms or hot water of
their own. Swimming was a mechanical ‘up and down the lane’ thing
and people needed a baths’ to get clean in not a leisure centre to enjoy
and get fit in.
At the same time, Edward Road Police Station was built. It was a
time when it made sense to arrest criminals and take them to the
‘nick’. In those days, crime prevention was an instinctive reflex of the
whole community, so the criminal stood out and could be dealt with.
Today, we need a community safety centre.
Far more recently the Health Centre was built at the back of the
Baths and opposite the police station. Even so, health was seen as a
thing the doctor and the centre did, not what was a key part of
everyone’s responsibility. Today, we need a Healthy Living Centre,
not a Sick Centre.
The costs
Recently, the Baths nearly closed and a campaign was launched by
those who swam in it to ‘save it’. At first glance, this makes sense. It
would cost £17,000,00 to save it for the purposes for which it was
built originally 100 years ago. But, it could cost £5m to construct a
new, modern, purpose built swimming centre. Pause for thought.
The Primary Care Trust is about to spend £1m on refurbishing the
Health Centre and make it more ‘community friendly’. Some also
feel the need for a brand new, modern Safety Centre, less an old
fashioned ‘nick’, more a confidence boosting facility which encourages
residents to prevent and design crime out of Balsall Heath.
So, some are asking: why not construct a new, purpose built, swimming
facility where the ‘nick’ now stands and join-up the functions of
literacy, communications, safety and health where the Health Centre,
Baths and Library now stand. That is, let’s join-up the needs of
Heathans and locate them in a modern Civic Centre.
A Civic Hub
want to preserve the old, single purpose, swimming use in the old
buildings.
The architectural merit, even iconic status of the building was well
made at the meeting. But, the case for simply renovating the baths in
their original glory was not. It was just asserted and taken for granted.
Residents from Balsall Heath wanted to explore the options outlined
above. But, they were given little time, less facts and the meeting
closed with the organisers saying that they would set up their working
party anyway.
Whilst most of the Baths present users were pleased with this outcome,
most residents from Balsall Heath were very dissatisfied, felt railroaded
and excluded by the organisers. The next day they told the
Heathan that they will now take their own local soundings. They will
set up an inclusive, multi-agency group to explore the options and
agree a cost effective credible way forward. They say they are happy to
include representatives from Moseley/Kings Heath and the users,
but will not be dictated to by them or taken for granted.
Can Super Nanny stop antisocial
behaviour?
In times past, the extended family helped parents to bring up children
well. It taught them right from wrong and to grow into mature, caring
adults.
In today’s world the family has shrunk often to the single parent
whose own parents did not use good parenting skills. So, many people
simply don’t know how to discipline their children. Without discipline
they can run wild, terrorise a whole street, even a whole neighbourhood.
The TV programs ‘Super-Nanny’ and ‘Little Angels shows just how
skilled, caring, adults who use ‘tough love’ can help the unskilled
parents of naughty children to teach them how to behave. So, the
Government has made funds available to train and deploy a bevy of
Super Nannys. At £30-40k a Nanny, some say this is too much.
But, guess what can happen if a naughty child of, say, 5 and their
parent(s) are left unaided until she/he is 16 years old?
The costs can be astronomical and include:
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Damage to property and local spirit.
Social services time.
Probation and courts time.
Police time.
Time in detention/prison
It is almost unbelievable that these costs can rise to way over £100k
per year per person orup to £1m over a 10 years period.
The proud, self-respecting neighbourhood of Balsall Heath yearns
for a hub, a focal point which could attract attention, visitors and be
fit for modern purpose. Further, many local groups lack meeting and
other facilities. So, local community leaders are saying: “Let’s have a
feasibility study and development plan which:
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Gives the swimmers a new, modern, facility for a possible £5m.
Integrates the functions of safety, health, fitness, literacy and civic
pride.
Is cost effective and can be maintained
Is fit for modern purpose and is sustainable for the next 50 years.
Turns old buildings into a modern icon.
Can be managed locally not by remote authority.
At a meeting called by a little group of Bath users and Martin Mullany,
a Moseley Councillor, those present were invited to set up a ‘Save the
Baths’ Action Group. The above views and those of a Consultant
employed by the Council were ignored in favour of those who simply
The cost of one Super Nanny’s time (10 hours per week at £40 per
hours for 8 weeks) £3.2k. Just compare £3.2k with £1m. No contest.
So, many people in Balsall Heath and elsewhere are saying: Lets have
1 Super Nanny per Neighbourhood, a kind of friendly parent support
worker. As they say: ‘A stitch in time saves time.’ Or, in this case, a
very big communal headache and an awful lot of money.
A Financial Ferret for the Forum
The Forum has been pressing Government to work out how much a
neighbourhood like Balsall Heath costs the taxpayer each year. It
wants to know how much is spent on health, housing, benefits,
police, environmental services, parks and so on.
It’s a surprise, but nobody knows what this figure is. Budgets for
Balsall Heath (and other neighbourhoods) are entwined in for larger
budgets which deliver one-size-fits-all services over far larger areas.
Because nobody knows, it follows that no one person or body is