An opposition group in West Lancashire proposes a budget to save threatened swimming pools, challenging council plans.
New pools were planned for Ormskirk and Skelmersdale, but the plans were stopped by rising costs. Cheaper options are needed now, they admitted. A new leisure hub opened in Burscough.
The pool closures caused protests, and some Labour members became independent. An opposition group, OWL, has different plans and wants to keep the pools open. OWL will propose their budget at the meeting on Wednesday night and wants councillors to support it.
OWL’s plan keeps pools open by seeking ways to reduce costs, such as cutting PR and management costs and lowering councillor pay. They also want to limit agency staff and would use a recycling grant, which OWL noticed the council omitted from the budget beforehand.
OWL’s budget uses less reserve money, making it sustainable for the next few years, and they want a “bold new direction.” The council might disappear due to reorganisation, and OWL has money from new house building. They worry about where the money goes.
OWL suggests a pool refurbishment costing five million in Ormskirk and suggests five million on a new leisure hub in Skelmersdale. This would gain support from town plans, and future house building levies would help too.
Keeping pool funding makes a new center feasible, and new centers save on running costs. More use can lead to savings, which offset interest and loan costs, allowing for the new pool build.
Budgets involve choices, and OWL says a new path is possible. They urge councillors to support this vision and want a good legacy for the area.
Councillors will debate all proposals. The meeting happens tomorrow night in Ormskirk.