THERE was an overwhelming 'yes' vote to keep St Annes pool open at last Thursday's parish poll – but it will not save the facility, says the borough council.
Asked 'Do you demand Fylde Borough keep the St Anne's swimming pool open and operational?' the result was:
- Number of ballot papers issued – 3,058 (14.1 per cent of eligible electorate).
- Number of yes votes – 3,040
- Number of no votes – 15
- Rejected ballot papers – 3.
However John Coombes, leader of Fylde Council, responded: "This is the result we were expecting due to the open nature of the question asked at the poll and I fully agree that in an ideal world the pool in St Anne's should be kept open past July 31.
"However this is simply not possible within the budget and I am afraid the decision to close the pools will remain unless an organisation can come forward with a suitable plan, and funding, to take it over.
"In order for the council to maintain the operation of the pool a council tax increase of over £30 per household each year would be required."
Bill Whitehead, who called the poll, said: "When you look at the figures it went very well."
He said he was happy with the 14.1 per cent turnout given the circumstances, which included the polling stations being open for just five hours, no polling cards being sent out, and a 20 per cent vote loss due to there being no postal or proxy votes available.
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