Falkirk Council: Closing buildings could impact on polling places

One that will definitely not be available is the Bo’ness Recreation Centre, which councillors had voted to close last week, during a two-day meeting of Falkirk Council.

The meeting heard a report on changes being made to polling places, with councillors given an opportunity to comment.

Bo’ness councillors David Aitchison (Labour) and Ann Ritchie (Independent) questioned a proposal to use St Mary’s RC Primary School instead of Bo’ness Recreation Centre which will now close inthe next few months.

Both councillors – who had argued strongly that the leisure centre should stay open – said they were concerned about using a school.

In recent years, there has been an effort to move away from doing so wherever possible.

Chief executive Kenneth Lawrie said that several schools are still being used across the area and the council will organise in-service days to coincide with planned elections.

The Scottish Parliament and local council elections have a fixed timetable so in-service days can be organised well in advance.

The only difficulty could be for Westminster snap elections, which the Prime Minister has the power to call with just a few weeks notice.

Councillor Ritchie said she felt children had lost enough school days through Covid and asked that the use of mobile units in the car park of the recreation centre be investigated.

The councillors were told that all polling places must be accessible and the land they are on must be clear and safe.

Bo’ness Recreation Centre was also a very large polling station, accommodating 3000 voters – which would mean three temporary polling stations would be needed.

But officers promised to investigate the practicalities of using mobile units rather than the school.

SNP councillor Stacey Devine did not object to using the school as she felt “we can plan for this round in-service days which means there will be no impact, unless there is a snap election”.

She also had concerns about the costs, given the council’s poor financial position, although she was reminded that Westminster and Holyrood elections are funded by the respective governments.

Officers were also asked to look again at an alternative if Dalgrain Community Hall in Grangemouth was to close.

The alternative of Grangemouth Town Hall was felt to be too far away and other options will be looked at.

Several of the halls that are being closed or transferred out of Falkirk Council ownership do have community groups interested in taking them over.

Where the community hall remains open and available for use, the council will continue to use the building.

The review of polling places, which takes place every five years, began in October 2023 and included an online survey published on the council’s website.

The final outcome of the review will be published in April.