The controversial decision to close Bucksburn swimming pool could be undone before Christmas – with signs of an imminent council U-turn which could lead to its reopening.
Hundreds have protested the mothballing of the Aberdeen leisure facility, along with six libraries, which was announced in the city budget in March.
Objectors even took the local authority to court over the shutdown of the well-used Bucksburn pool and Cornhill, Cults, Ferryhill, Kaimhill, Northfield, and Woodside libraries.
Their judicial review was paused while Aberdeen City Council officials finally agreed to hold public consultation, four months after the pool was drained and bookshelves emptied.
Long-awaited review of closure of Aberdeen libraries and Bucksburn pool to be heard before Christmas
Next week, the outcome of that consultation, as well as updated impact assessments, will be put to councillors.
At the end of it, they will be given two simple options – as one Town House source put it – “stick or twist”?
The future of the libraries will be considered as a job lot – the closure of all six will be reaffirmed or overturned.
Separately, the reduction in funding for Sport Aberdeen will then be looked at – which could bring about the longed for U-turn in Bucksburn.
If either closure is revoked, money to open the doors will have to be found in March as tens of millions more is slashed from city budgets.
From the council documents, it looks unlikely the reopening will happen before the new financial year in April.
Cause for optimism after fierce local campaign to reopen Bucksburn pool
But… there is cause for optimism for those campaigners calling for the Bucksburn pool to be refilled.
The council is run by the SNP and Liberal Democrats, who voted for £700,000 cuts to Sport Aberdeen’s budget forcing the closure.
Now, two SNP parliamentarians for the north of Aberdeen – Jackie Dunbar MSP and Kirsty Blackman MP – have urged a rethink.
The Aberdeen North MP’s pleas also extend to library provision, though she stops short of calling for all six to reopen instead suggesting mitigations “as a minimum”.
Calls from the Aberdeen North MP and Aberdeen Donside MSP carry even more weight when you consider their offices are staffed by the very councillors they are lobbying.
Would their own staff let them make that call, if they were going to ignore it?
Bucksburn campaigner: ‘This would be proof people can make a difference’
Kirsty Fraser, who has rallied public outcry against the pool closure, welcomed the glimmer of hope.
“It has been quite a journey and it would be such an incredible end to the year after all our hard work,” she told us.
“We would urge councillors to reopen Bucksburn swimming pool as it would be a huge boost for the whole city.
“Often people feel like they cannot make a difference as an individual or small group – this would be proof that we can.”
Have we seen this play out before?
Members of parliament preempting decisions to undo unpopular Aberdeen City Council budget cuts is something we’ve already seen this year.
It is a gambit – looking for any sort of winner out of a backtrack – that the SNP has played already this financial year.
After their city councillors and the Lib Dems cut funding for Sistema Scotland, which runs the Big Noise Torry project, it was Stephen Flynn MP who called on the Scottish Government to cover the charity’s running costs for 2023-24.
Within hours of the SNP Westminster leader’s staffers urging The P&J to publish his calls with haste, culture minister Neil Gray announced the money was guaranteed.
Party sources did not reject the comparison when it was put to them.
However, at this stage, all the SNP’s Christian Allard and his Lib Dem council co-leader Ian Yuill would tell The P&J was they would “consider the contents of the correspondence in due course”.
‘They shouldn’t have waited for all-clear to break silence’
Campaigners on the other hand rounded on the SNP parliamentarians for their offer of long-awaited support.
This was seized upon by North East Conservative MSP Tess White, who urged Ms Blackman and Miss Dunbar to “continue to speak up”.
She added: “Finding their voice, even at this late stage, may have some impact on the decision-making come the council meeting on December 13.
“The libraries cuts should also be binned, not least because the process behind it all turned out to be borderline illegal.
“But they shouldn’t have waited for some apparent all-clear from the SNP in Aberdeen to break the wall of silence and press home just how bad this has been for the city.”
A million pound mistake? Cost of undoing Bucksburn pool and Aberdeen library closures revealed
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