FINANCIAL pressure and not health and safety concerns was the reason behind South Ayrshire Council's decision to close Girvan Swimming Pool.
That was the shocking claim made by a reliable County Buildings informant to the Carrick Gazette this week as the council submitted its delayed response to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman.
The council's reply was over month after the orig
inal deadline.
Our source acknowledged there were health and safety concerns with the harbourside building but suggested that was used "as a smokescreen to hide another issue" - cash considerations.
The condition of the building offered the SAC a convienent reason to close the pool.
According to the source: "We are living in a time where we have to cut, cut, cut throughout the whole of Britain.
"There was health and safety issues and if the money was there they would have been fixed.
"However, the cost savings from other closures in the area could have saved the pool from closure."
So far this year, the Gaiety Theatre has closed its doors, Dalmilling Golf Course is to be axed and the gates were shut on Pet's Corner in Belleisle.
The SAC insider continued: "It was costing a fortune to run, which made it a target.
"But the whole saga was handled poorly; it was a massive wake up call for the council."
Our source repeated on several occasions that there were health and safety issues concerning the building and if the council was "cash rich" it would have spent the necessary funds to fix the pool.
But the whistleblower questioned the health and safety claims and refererred to them as the perfect smokescreen to close the facility: "There were five swimming pools in South Ayrshire that you can line up in geographical order -: Girvan, Maybole, Ayr, Prestwick and Troon. Maybole and Prestwick, both central to two swimming pools, were far more logical choices based on geography.
"The town feels mistreated and rightly so."
Campaigners to save the pool have long argued the condition of the building did not warrant closure and wondered then how it could fall into such a state after passing safety inspections a year earlier.
However, Girvan and South Carrick residents have campaigned hard to save their pool.
A local businessman has offered to find the cash to reopen the pool but, so far, his offer has fallen on deaf ears.
