Labour councillors succeeded in halting a Falkirk Council proposal to close four local high school swimming pools, starting with Grangemouth High this year followed by the pools at Larbert, Braes and Falkirk High Schools
Their amendment called for agreement that the council would not proceed with the proposal for closure of the school but instead asked the Director of Children’s Services to undertake a further assessment of all pools in the council area and report back in December on current costs, income and carbon emissions and also come up with proposals for increasing usage and income as well as cutting costs and carbon emissions.
The amendment was proposed by Councillor Jack Redmond who has been in regular contact with groups opposed to closure and was supported by all except SNP councillors who supported their own motion calling for further reports.
Councillor Redmond said: “We have said it from the start, our pools are an important community asset and should not be cut
“And honestly, having spent the last few months speaking with our school students, pool users and swimming clubs hearing what the pools mean to them, we have become all the more determined to save them.
“One of the main things I have learned is that swimming is something Falkirk is actually GOOD at. We have developed world class champions here in Falkirk through our regional swim team.
“In fact, many of team Scotland’s Commonwealth medals and Team GB’s Olympic medals might have been won Halfway across the world, but they were made here in Falkirk!
“That is something that we as Falkirk council should be proud of. Something to celebrate. Not seen as an expense to be cut!”
He said what is proposed is completely detrimental to the swimming club system that has produced these great athletes, because the four pools which are proposed for closure are the ones used by our local swimming clubs, while the four remaining are the ones used by Falkirk Council for swimming lessons.
“This means our own council lessons will be unaffected whilst our independent swimming groups will be left without a pool to swim in”, he added.
“This could spell the end of our swimming teams like the Falkirk Otters for example who were founded here in Falkirk 80 years ago.”
”Our amendment is clear in asking officers to go back and develop proposals to reduce costs increase income and usage of our pools.
“Simple things like using pool covers and working with our swimming groups to train them to use the covers. During Covid some of our groups became key holders which saved on staffing costs.
“All the groups I have spoken to have told me they need more pool time but can’t get any. We should take advantage of this make use of any unused pool slots and look at pool sharing to get maximum use out of our pool time.
“Currently Class of '98 and NPDO are making a fortune out of our pools. With estimated income for Larbert and Graeme high around £95,000 per annum each. I would like to highlight to members that the four class of 98 High schools - Larbert, Graeme, Braes and Bo’ness - come back into council ownership in the near future, in 2025. If you consider that a pool with a full timetable can generate nearly £100,000 per year, that’s about £400,000 worth of income that the council could generate every year from these four pools.“