Falkirk school swimming pool set to close later this year as council look to cut costs

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Grangemouth High School's swimming pool will be the first of four school pools in Falkirk district to close if councillors agree.

A report which will go before Falkirk Council for a decision next week shows that the council wants to press ahead with the closure of four school pools - although most won't close immediately.

However, Grangemouth High School's pool will close in August this year, if elected members agree. And information from that process will help decide if, how and when the other school pools will close. Read more: Falkirk's City nightclub says 4am finish will help it attract big names to town Falkirk Council's education bosses say they will look at how Grangemouth High manages to adapt its PE curriculum to cope with the closure and how easily other groups who use the pool are able to find alternative venues.The report says that Grangemouth was chosen for several reasons: It is close to pools in Grangemouth Sports Centre and Carrongrange High School; it is the smallest of the four schools targeted; and it was the last of the four pools to be staffed to allow wider public access.Falkirk Council says it has no alternative to making such decisions as it faces a budget deficit of £67 million over the next four years.The council report shows that Falkirk is behind only West Lothian and Stirling in terms of the number of swimming pools per head of population, with all three councils significantly ahead of other local authorities.The council says in the report: "Whilst it is recognised and accepted that any pool closures will have an impact on local schools, communities and sports groups the financial pressure on the Council to make significant savings over the next few years remains a priority."But the report