Council Dives in to Pool Proposals
External operators will be asked to submit their bids for the management of St Annes Pool after Fylde Borough Council’s Cabinet last night agreed to explore the re-opening of the facility.
Swimmer in a pool doing the butterfly stroke
The pool was closed last year after the council decided external financial constraints meant some non-statutory services had to be cut back in order to balance the budget. Thanks to the successful hand over by the Borough Council of Kirkham pool to the YMCA the Cabinet decided that it should continue to explore options regarding St Annes so that public swimming provision can be restored to the area.
At the meeting details of the two current proposals were discussed along with note of at least two more interested parties. All offers would be considered on the basis of minimising any future financial support from the council but it was felt that the desire to reinstate the pool was great enough to warrant the options being put out to the market.
Councillor Susan Fazackerley, Cabinet Member for Leisure and Culture, said: “Although we have no statutory obligation to provide a swimming facility, we always try to provide our residents with the services they feel are important. We closed the pool with a very heavy heart last year as we felt it was the right thing to do in response to falling attendance and increasing financial demand in other areas. I am now pleased that there seems to be so much interest in re-opening it.”
Council officers will now set in motion a tendering process with interested parties putting forward their propositions. The council will be looking at the timescales and cost of the proposals and will be judging them on their ability to meet Council objectives.
Cllr Fazackerley concluded: “We will be working hard to speed up the tendering process as we want to see St Annes Pool up and running as soon as possible. Having said that, it would be foolish not to explore all the avenues and hopefully come up with the best scheme and one that will be the most cost-effective for our council taxpayers”.
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