Residents demand Kirkham swimming pool is reopened
The facility was shut after it was damaged in a storm almost two years ago - and locals have this month been given the news that it will never reopen. But there is a growing clamour for that decision to be reversed.
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00:02 - Nick, what does this swimming pool mean to everybody?
00:17 - It is the heart of Kirkham.
00:19 It's been in Kirkham since 1914.
00:22 It's for young, old, disabled,
00:24 and also kids to learn to swim.
00:26 So it's been really, really important part of the community.
00:29 - When you discovered that it had permanently closed,
00:32 how did you feel?
00:34 - Pretty shocked, pretty upset.
00:35 When the pool roof fell off two years ago,
00:38 we have rebranded the swimming club.
00:40 We ended up with six swimmers
00:41 when we first got back swimming.
00:43 And then we've built it up to 78 members now,
00:45 and then we find out they decided to shut the pool.
00:47 It's really upsetting, to be honest.
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00:55 They knew about the incident years ago,
01:10 i.e. the boiler, the roof, and the electrics,
01:12 and everything, so they just allowed the pool
01:14 to carry on like it did for years, and it's a shame.
01:17 It's a beautiful building, like I say, 1914,
01:20 and they just allowed it to carry on like it is.
01:23 - And you think ultimately
01:24 that's what's brought it to this position?
01:26 - Well, they have spent money on it over the years,
01:28 in some ways, but unfortunately,
01:30 if you don't spend a lot on it,
01:32 and that's it, eventually, something will give,
01:34 and that's what's happened in this occasion.
01:36 - To use that terrible phrase, we are where we are.
01:38 Now that you are in that position,
01:40 what would you like to see happen,
01:41 given that the YMCA can't possibly afford the repair bill?
01:45 - Well, recently, the seven million pounds
01:46 has just been spent in Kirkham on other issues.
01:49 At the present, drownings in Lancashire and in England
01:52 are going up with children,
01:54 and we need to teach kids water safety.
01:58 The nearest pool is either Garstang, Preston, or Blackpool.
02:02 So how are young people gonna learn to swim in this area?
02:05 And that's the thing, it's been lost.
02:07 It needs to be back again so we can teach kids to swim.
02:09 There's canals around here, we've got the sea down the road,
02:12 and it's very much an important thing
02:13 to get operational again.
02:15 - So is your appeal to file borough council,
02:18 Kirkham Town Council, both the YMCA?
02:21 - Yeah, I mean, the council, everybody, you know,
02:23 if you've got seven million pounds
02:25 to spend on Market Square down the road,
02:28 surely there must be money
02:29 to get that pool up and running again.
02:30 You know, the roof, yeah, the insurance paid out.
02:33 You know, it's still a good, solid pool.
02:35 It needs to be reopened.
02:36 - The money being spent in the town centre,
02:39 that's, you know, ring-fenced government money, isn't it?
02:41 There isn't just money sloshing around in local authorities
02:44 to splash for apologies for the pun on swimming pools.
02:48 - Well, this is the case,
02:49 but if it keeps kids off the street
02:50 and gives kids in Kirkham and old people
02:52 something to do in life, you know,
02:53 they go on about mental health issues
02:55 and on about diabetes and health issues.
02:58 You know, that's what the swimming pool's about.
03:00 There's a lot of old people in there
03:01 that have come here to support this meeting tonight
03:03 because that's part of their life.
03:05 You know, when lockdown happened, when we reopened,
03:08 they went back swimming to be with their friends,
03:10 you know, and that's the thing.
03:11 It's an important part of the community.
03:13 - And it'd be a loss if it was indeed lost.
03:15 - Massive loss, yeah, particularly for the club.
03:17 The club's been going for 78 years now.
03:20 So just to see it disappear
03:21 would be a great loss for this area.
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