Falkirk Council: Conservatives will vote to keep school swimming pools open

Four school pools are currently under threat of closure as Falkirk Council faces a shortage of £67 million over the next four years to keep all of its services running.

The announcement that they could be closed sparked an outcry among residents and the Conservative group says it has made its decision “after listening to the views of parents, pupils, teachers, and community users”.

However, they the Tories haven’t revealed how they would make up the shortfall instead.

Councillor James Bundy, economic development spokesperson, said: “Falkirk Conservative councillors will be voting to keep all four school swimming pools currently under threat open. We have come to this conclusion after listening carefully to the well-articulated views of parents, pupils, teachers, and community users who use these swimming pools.

“Falkirk Council’s first strategic aim is to empower communities. Ripping away swimming pools will undermine this aim, particularly when the logistics of alternatives are not being offered. This decision does not mean the Falkirk Conservatives ignore the fact the council needs to make difficult decisions to close our financial gap. We do recognise this fact. But we also need to make the right decisions.

“Closing these swimming pools would be dragging Falkirk in the wrong direction. That’s why the Falkirk Conservative will be voting to keep them open.”

In December, the council announced it was planning to close the swimming pools in Grangemouth High, Larbert High, Graeme High and Falkirk High schools, due to the huge rise in energy costs.

A previous report to councillors stated that the cost of running the nine high school swimming pools was around £678,072 annually – rising this year to £848,346.

The Labour group has already pledged its support to groups fighting the closures, including eight swimming clubs that use Larbert High School to teach over 1000 pupils every week, in addition to the school’s own pupils.

They also heard from Falkirk Otters swimming club, which said Falkirk High School’s swimming pool, which the Otters use for training every single evening, was “irreplaceable”.

At a public meeting in Stenhousemuir to discuss the council’s strategic property review, around 150 schoolchildren gathered outside, waving posters and chanting ‘save our pool’.

While the swimming pool closures were announced as part of the council’s strategic property review, the decision on their future will be taken separately.

This is because the pools are not eligible to be taken over by communities through the asset transfer process, which the council hopes will happen to other buildings.

The final decision on whether or not the pools will close for good will be taken at a future meeting of Falkirk Council.

The combined votes of the nine Labour councillors and five Conservative councillors are not quite a majority on the 30-strong council, but their joint opposition means there is a very real chance the proposals will not go through.