A last-ditch attempt to save an Aberdeen swimming pool from closure could be backed later this month.
The Press & Journal says councillors are being asked to back an 11th-hour bid to keep Bucksburn pool open.
Local campaigners are expected to try to make the case for short-term intervention directly to the finance committee on March 29.
Sport Aberdeen earlier this month announced it would pull the plug on the much-loved community facility next month.
Both it and the Beach Leisure Centre are due to close for the last time at the end of the school spring holidays on April 16.
The city leisure operator’s budget for 2023-24 was slashed by £687,000 by the SNP and Liberal Democrats running the local authority.
Extra cash
Now, Conservative councillors want extra cash coming to Scotland from Westminster to be used to keep Bucksburn pool afloat.
They are pressing for the council’s finance committee to consider making the emergency-funding call as urgent business.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt made a Budget-day splash with a pledge of £63million to help English councils keep pools open.
Consequential funding from that announcement should be included in the £320million extra coming north of the border.
Aberdeen Conservative leader Ryan Houghton is now calling for the city council to stake a claim for £480,000 for Bucksburn pool.
Mr Houghton said: “As the city grapples with the budget cuts imposed by the SNP and Lib Dem administration, it appears that there may be a way to secure additional funding to keep Bucksburn pool open.”
Sustainable
Sport Aberdeen chief executive Alistair Robertson previously revealed the ageing facility needs £400,000 of investment to make it sustainable in the long term.
Kirsty Fraser, of Save Bucksburn Swimming Pool group, said the prospect of councillors pressing for national funding was a “fantastic, amazing, hope” for the campaign.
But SNP council co-leader Alex Nicoll cast doubt on the usefulness of Mr Hunt'ss pool funding.
He said on radio: “I think it’s very unlikely (that Bucksburn could remain open). “When you actually look at the figures, the chancellor announced something like £63million for something in the order of 800 leisure facilities in England.
“That’s something like £75,000 (each), which is a drop in the ocean when it comes to actually paying for and running a swimming pool.
"We obviously are still to find out if it’s actually even going to qualify for Barnett consequentials. And, if it does, then how much does that amount to given that are 32 local authorities in Scotland?”