TALKING of old decisions coming back to haunt those standing for election, I can’t help but think the closure of Haslingden baths is worth revisiting again.

I know it was several years ago, but the way it was handled by Rossendale council at the time has left a lasting impression on those who campaigned to save it.

There are many in Haslingden who are also frustrated by the council’s limited support to get the baths re-opened, despite being able to find cash and ample support for other local schemes like the Whitaker Museum in Rawtenstall, and Ski Rossendale, also in Rawtenstall.

The loss of the baths to Haslingden was entirely of the current administration’s own making. It was not, as they claimed at the time, due to government spending cuts.

The council was in receipt of a loan to pay for a new pool in Haslingden, but chose instead to use the money to buy up the old shopping centre in Rawtenstall.

That was a decision they were entitled to take – but it’s a decision which left a bad taste in Haslingden.

The council is now lobbying for around £2m of lottery funding to improve the centre of Haslingden, similar to the heritage scheme in Bacup – although I imagine they hope without the stand-off against residents opposed to the changes which had to be resolved by Lancashire county council last summer.

The bid has identified a number of buildings which could be enhanced with lottery funding.

It is, if approved, a great idea.

But it does rather leave one important question: If heritage is so important to Rossendale council in Haslingden, why don’t they get on and do something to sort out the old baths building?

Anything has to be better than leaving such an important community building empty and making it a magnet for vandals in the process.