St Annes pool fight continues

9:50pm Sunday 11th May 2008

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Campaigners fighting the closure of St Annes swimming pool have vowed to continue as a poll saw thousands of voters demand the council keep it open.

The result of last Thursday's parish poll was 3040 voting yes, only 15 no votes and three rejected papers, with turnout among the 23,000 voters 14.1 per cent.

The question on the ballot paper was Do you demand Fylde Borough Council keep the St. Annes swimming pool open and operational?'.

The yes campaign was led by St Annes resident, Bill Whitehead.

He said: "The result shows the strength of feeling from all sections of the town over the terrible decision to close the pool.

"We will be using the results to lobby various groups to put pressure on Fylde Council to reverse the plans."

In response to the parish poll, leader of Fylde Borough Council, Councillor John Coombes, said: "This is the result we were expecting due to the open nature of the question asked at the poll and I fully agree that in an ideal world the pool in St Annes should be kept open beyond the July 31 deadline.

"However this is simply not possible within the budget and I am afraid the decision to close the pool will remain unless an organisation can come forward with a suitable plan, and funding, to take it over."

"In order for the council to maintain the operation of the pool a council tax increase of over £30 per household each year would be required. For many this is simply not possible or acceptable."

He added that the council was working to find an alternative long-term solution for a pool in partnership with the private sector.

In another development, the heated meeting which decided the fate of the pool will be reviewed by standards chiefs after complaints that a councillor swore and procedure was not adhered to.

Members of Fylde Council's standards committee will now examine a DVD from the four-hour meeting in March to see if any conduct fell below standard.