Published on:
04
July 2011
Over the last four months the Council has been consistent and clear that the pool will close at the end of June. To this end staff have been working with user groups to find alternative facilities.
In the event that a viable and sustainable community led business plan were presented to the Council, this would have been considered prior to the decommissioning of the building.
Councillor Eddie Carrick, portfolio holder for sustainability, said, "While we met with a community group in May, their proposals for maintaining and developing the facility aim to generate 150% of current income while halving opening times. Their plans also require an ongoing subsidy from the Council and further funding towards capital refurbishment.
"The Council cannot accept a proposal which requires ongoing funding from the Council: our balanced budget includes the savings to be made by closing pool. We also consider the income generation target to be unrealistic. Unfortunately, this means the proposals so far presented are not viable.
"In the four months since the decision to close the pool was made, no group has come forward with a sustainable business plan. In consultation with the community council, MP and MSP, we have pledged to maintain the pool in an operational state for a further two months after the closure on 30 June, giving the community a full six months to present a realistic plan, should they wish to take on the running of the pool.
"Many users have already been accommodated at other pools and we will continue to work with the remaining groups to finalise alternatives with them."