Campaigners hoping to save Jacobs Wells Baths and turn the historic building into a community hub hit out angrily at Bristol City Council leaders for putting it up for sale. Cabinet members rubber-stamped plans to sell off the dilapidated property in Hotwells at a meeting on Tuesday (July 4) despite the fact a community asset transfer (CAT) process has not yet been completed, with two bidders in the running to take it over from the local authority.
Councillors were told it was “Bristol's last chance to do the right thing for the local community”. Deputy mayor Cllr Craig Cheney said it cost the council tens of thousands of pounds a month to maintain the former Victorian baths, used most recently as a dance studio for 35 years until its closure in 2016, and that “we just don’t have that money”.
He said the CAT process was “still being worked through”, following the deadline of Friday, June 30, for final submissions from community arts organisation Trinity Bristol and Bristol Historic Buildings. Trinity Bristol CEO Emma Harvey told the meeting that the decision to place the property on the open market, along with six other council-owned buildings or land, “jeopardises our connection to the past, erodes our present identity, and threatens the resilience of future communities”.
Read more: Jacobs Wells Baths placed on list of buildings Bristol City Council wants to sell off
She said: “These spaces are more than physical structures and worth considerably more than an old bog or a dumping ground. They represent a tangible connection to our city's heritage and have witnessed countless memories and community gatherings that have shaped our city's social fabric.
“These decisions risk robbing communities of tomorrow of spaces to build resilience and build solutions.” Another campaigner, Heather Williams, said: “Jacobs Wells Baths is the only local space that is suitable for a variety of arts, culture and leisure activities.
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“The council has received a well-thought-through plan to take the building forward. This is Bristol's last chance to do the right thing for the local community.
“We need to transform Jacobs Wells Baths into a thriving community space.” Hotwells & Cliftonwood Community Association trustee Damian Rooney said: “If the council chooses to dispose of this site, it is stripping the city of an important part of our civic heritage and future, and failing to engage with the needs of the local community.”
Cllr Katy Grant (Green, Clifton ) said including the building on a list of assets for disposal was “disconcerting” and “sent the wrong message” to the community and the two organisations hoping to take it over. Cllr Cheney (Labour, Hillfields) said: “Jacobs Wells Baths is on the list but this doesn’t preclude the CAT process if there is a bid that doesn’t create cost or risk to the council.
“Any offer that requires the council to continue to take any of that risk is a difficult thing to countenance. At the same time, the CAT process is still open, that’s still being worked through.”
Cllr Martin Fodor (Green, Redland) said: “With the impact of austerity on council funding, selling off buildings is one way short-term to deal with funding problems but I worry about the cannibalisation of public assets – selling them off and they can’t be regained.” Cllr Cheney replied: “I agree with you, but if we look through the things we’re actually selling here, we’re selling a patch of land next to St Brendan’s College to St Brendan’s College, we’re selling off a patch of land next to St Pauls Playground to St Pauls Playground, we’re selling off a patch of land next to Wade Street mosque to the mosque, we’re selling off some disused public toilets, Ujima House where I worked with the community on the new housing scheme there, the dance centre which we’ve just talked about and hopefully will get through a CAT process, and then finally a bit of land that we bought for a transport corridor that we no longer need and will sell off.
“So while I take your point about selling off public assets, actually most of this is of benefit to the community and surrounding area.” He said a long list of other council properties that the organisation intended to sell would come to cabinet in September and that this was for transparency despite officers having authority to make those decisions.
Bristol City Council put out a call in March for someone to restore Jacobs Wells Baths, two months after leisure group Fusion scrapped an £8million project to regenerate it as a leisure, dance, arts and community centre. The baths originally opened in 1889.
