A North East MSP is to urge the Scottish Government to intervene and stop the closure of Bucksburn Swimming Pool at Holyrood later this week.
Conservative MSP Tess White will ask local government minister Ben Macpherson what support will be given following the announcement that the pool would close after Aberdeen City Council cut Sport Aberdeen’s annual budget by £700,000.
Ms White’s question will come amid concerns over the impact the closure of the pool would have on people with additional support needs, children, the elderly and local swimming clubs.
So far, more than 8,000 people have signed a petition to stop its doors from closing, while campaigners gathered outside yesterday’s SNP leadership hustings in Aberdeen to voice their anger at the council administration’s decision to axe funding.
Ms White, who met the campaign group to keep the pool open, will make the case that the next closest swimming pool is two buses away and that the facility is the only one of its kind in the city with a shallow stair entry for people with disabilities.
She said: “The pool is treasured by the Bucksburn community who have been betrayed by this SNP council.
“Bucksburn Amateur Swimming have used the facility for more than 25 years as their home pool, while Bucksburn Academy additional support needs department use it twice a week.
“No thought has been given to the negative impact closing this much-loved pool would have on the mental and physical health of groups like these who regularly use the facility.
“The prospect of the swimming pool being forced to close its doors is heartbreaking and we must all rally together to ensure this doesn’t happen.”
Last week, hundreds of people attended a meeting to save the venue while, in a sign of hope for the Bucksburn pool, the Scottish Government stepped in to restore funding for Big Noise Torry, after it was scrapped in the authority’s budget.
‘If we fight we can stop it’: Bucksburn pool campaigners protest outside Aberdeen SNP hustings
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