Spurtle on the Pool issue

We haven't heard from Spurtle for a while but not for the first time we're delighted to give a Spurtle comment on another thread the billing it deserves as a post in its own right:

'We know the Highland Council have to save a heap of money and we also know how many of us would suggest they go about saving it but, given that the very reason for the existence of so many of these public sector leviathans seems to be to guarantee the continuity of employment of those working for the same, we're not likely to get far by suggesting some careful 'pruning' of its upper branches

Nairn's pool , however you feel about the mechanics of its day to day operation, is an extremely important part of the fabric of the town. No one at the Highland Council will have any doubt that , to even whisper the possibility of its closure, could have had anything other than the effect it has.

So, do we think that someone at the HC is attempting to focus attention on the pool closure, in the full knowledge that , when they decide the pool should stay, it will make other less ‘headline’ cuts in the town easier to effect? Or do we over estimate them ?

Anyway, for the moment, I will attempt to get the HC to answer two questions :

1. Does the figure quoted for the estimated savings, should Nairn pool close, fully take account of the fact that vast majority of ‘Highlife’ customers in Nairn would cancel their subscriptions ?
2. If there is a pool in Inverness and a pool in Culloden –why suggest closing the one in Nairn ? In these modern times you have to say that its far more sustainable for the folks from Culloden to travel into Inverness, should the pool there close, than expecting those from Nairn to do so.( Of course I’ll be told that it’s a different budget, being part of the Culloden Academy but, ultimately, it all comes out of the same pot)

Well done to the girls for their work on the Facebook page though. The one thing that local authorities don’t like is publicity, and thorns in their sides. Making lots of noise will do no harm at all.'