Councillor Karen Buckley, Leader of Fylde Council said: “We regret the YMCA’s decision to close and are disappointed that this will remove the provision of public swimming in and around Kirkham. We also appreciate how difficult it must have been to make this decision by the YMCA who own and operate the facility. Nevertheless, the closure will be a real blow for residents of Kirkham and the surrounding villages.
“We understand there is a demand for a public facility to cater for rural Fylde residents and have heard directly from schools that are struggling to justify the time out of the classroom to transport children further away to pools in St Annes, Garstang or Poulton to fulfil the requirements for teaching children to swim.”
“We offer to work with the YMCA to seek funding for an alternative site to bring back public swimming to rural Fylde so children can learn to swim locally and adults, as well as children, can enjoy the physical and mental health benefits that swimming brings.”
Cllr Jayne Nixon, Lead Member of Tourism, Leisure and Culture further stated: “The closure of the YMCA Kirkham facility is undeniably a significant setback for our community, especially for families and children who cherished having a convenient local swimming pool in Kirkham. The YMCA have explored and exhausted all opportunities to reopen the site, however, the cost of the immediate and futureproof reparative works makes the site economically unviable.”
“Looking ahead, our determination to address this issue remains resolute. While acknowledging the challenges, we are fully invested in collaborating with the YMCA and Kirkham Town Council and, we will pursue all available funding to seek to return swimming provision to the Kirkham area.”
For further details and FAQs please visit YMCA’s dedicated page here.
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