Great lengths to keep alive baths’ history

Heritage stones on Royton Baths to be saved and restored. PRESERVATION plans . . . Dale Hughes (D Hughes Demolition), right, and Councillors Marie and Steven Bashforth

Times change and we need to move on says Councillor Steven Bashforth in reply to criticism over the demolition of Royton Baths.

“It would be great if we could preserve every old building. We have been saying the stones will be saved for two years or more now, and they will be. Royton councillors value our heritage and take every opportunity to help preserve it where we can.”

The Chronicle reported last week that the demolition of the baths has been temporarily halted after the discovery of a “minor but incorrect” note on the planning application.

The application is to demolish the entire building – which became Royton Sports Centre in 1993 – and turn it into a “much-needed” car park for the new Royton Leisure Centre, which opened in September.

The council’s intention has always been to remove the arch and stone detailing from the front of the building – which is more than a century old – and reuse it elsewhere. The application failed to make clear the need to preserve the frontage stonework.

Councillor Bashforth, of Royton South Ward, said: “We made a promise to save as much of the stonework as we could, and we are standing by that promise. The space is needed to provide an extra 60 parking spaces that people are telling us are urgently needed.”