A decision to mothball Carlisle’s Turkish Baths has been slammed by the group trying to keep the heritage asset open.
The Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths claimed it took members of Carlisle City Council’s executive just 90 seconds to decide that the venue would be ‘temporarily closed’ and the group fears it will never reopen.
They said they were outraged by the decision but the council said it would cost around £26,500 a month to keep the site operational.
The group said over 50 members of the public crammed into the meeting room in Carlisle’s Civic Centre hoping to hear a detailed explanation from councillors.
Iain Young, a regular user of the Turkish Baths, addressed the six councillors. He said: “How can you come to that decision without doing your research, without listening to people…every time you have put something forward (for closure) it has been shown it can be overcome. But you have been determined to close it.”
The Turkish Baths was scheduled to close in early 2023 to allow demolition to take place of the next door 1970s Pools. This will be included in the £20 million Station Gateway development, led by Cumbria County Council with support from the city council and other partners.
“Although we appreciate the importance of the building and have invested a lot to keep it running, we need to take into account the rising costs of utilities, building maintenance and operational maintenance.
“We also need to factor in the investment needed to make the site stand-alone from The Pools. This work would be essential to make the site DDA compliant and provide safe exit routes in the event of a fire.
“We would be incurring substantial costs to keep the site open as a standalone facility for only a few months. This would not be a good use of public money.”
One of 12 similar facilities still operating in the UK, the Grade II listed building on James Street was completed in 1909 and is managed by GLL on behalf of Carlisle City Council.
The closure comes in the face of an 18-month long campaign by The Friends of Carlisle Victorian and Turkish Baths. The group has repeatedly asked the council to keep the baths open while it completed a development study and assembled the capital to redevelop the baths as a centre for health and wellbeing.
Chair of the friends group, Julie Minns, said: “When we started the campaign, Councillor John Mallinson said ‘What will ultimately save the Turkish baths is people using them…if we can ensure they are presented in good order and that they are attractive that would be the best way to ensure their future’. Both those things happened, yet the council is still closing it.”
She added that the council cited several reasons for closure, including the invasive surveys required for the Station Gateway Development, the power supply, that GLL were unable to continue to operate the bath, the environmental impact of keeping them open and cost.
Julie said: “We have answered every single point that has been raised and we would have answered the points raised yesterday. But we weren’t given the chance. The decision by the executive is bad for democracy, bad for Carlisle and bad for the health and wellbeing of local people.”
The group claimed that the cost of keeping the baths open was a red herring and said that in April, Cllr Mallinson said money was not an issue. Five weeks ago, the group said, he told the council’s people scrutiny panel: “If we need the money we will find it.”
Helen Fuller, of Botcherby, recently discovered the Turkish Baths. She said: “Councillor Higgs describes it as a ‘temporary suspension’ but how can it be when he cannot say when it will begin and end. These six councillors have washed their hands of the baths and left the people who use them high and dry. They should be ashamed.”
Despite there never having been a consultation on closing the Turkish Baths – the last in the Northwest and one of only 12 left in the UK – the 113-year-old Baths will close their doors by the end of the month.
