COUNCIL leader Steve Galloway has revealed why York Barbican Centre's swimming pools will shut next month, when other parts of the complex are staying open.
He said it was because City of York Council's budget for 2004/05 was calculated on the basis of a closure at the end of May.
Commenting on email correspondence with John Issitt, one of the leaders of the Save Our Barbican campaign, Coun Galloway also said the pool was the most heavily subsidised part of the complex, and central government expenditure restrictions meant the authority could not continue the current level of subsidy.
He also said that the Barbican plant was at the end of its life and could fail at any time.
Charlie Croft, the council's assistant director of leisure and lifelong learning, said on Thursday that the pool would have to shut on June 6 to allow time for decommissioning before the main development work starts.
Mr Croft was announcing that the Barbican's fitness facilities, catering, crche and soft play were set to remain open until October 31.
Mr Issitt called for the pools and the rest of the centre to stay open until the planning process is complete.
He said that when setting the budget for this year, the council should have taken account of the possibility that there would be strong opposition and that the scheme might be delayed, and set aside enough money to ensure the pool could stay open.
He believed this was another example of council incompetence over the whole Barbican affair.
He had a particular concern for disabled and elderly swimmers who were able to use the steps to get down into the main Barbican pool, but could only be winched in elsewhere.
Coun Galloway told the Evening Press that a combination of three factors meant the pool must close.
The pool subsidy was running at £25,000 a month, which the authority could no longer afford.
Staff were being redeployed, and sufficient staff were needed for safety reasons.
The plant was also more than 25 years old and could break down at any moment.
Updated: 09:19 Saturday, May 08, 2004
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