SWIMMING pools look set to disappear for good from West Fife's high schools.

At one stage, all five had pools but Dunfermline High and Queen Anne lost theirs when new schools opened in 2012 and 2003 respectively.

New high schools for St Columba's and Woodmill are due to open at the new joint campus at Halbeath in 2024 but Fife Council said there were no plans to include a pool – and next door neighbours Fife College said they're not going to have one either.

A replacement for Inverkeithing High School is due to be delivered in 2026, at the Fleet Grounds in Rosyth, and while the council said this week there was "no decision" as yet on a pool, it's thought to be highly unlikely.

Councillor David Barratt, convener of the assets and property services committee, and SNP councillor for Inverkeithing and Dalgety Bay, said: "The new high school in Rosyth won't have a pool.

"There's been some discussions about that but the policy generally is that Fife Council doesn't build swimming pools in new schools.

"I think we should review the policy, which came in during the last administration, but that's for another time.

"We certainly need access to swimming pools in each area, I don't think it matters too much whether that's in a school or in the community."

The council said there was "no specific requirement in the curriculum for swimming in secondary schools" and head of education and children's services, Shelagh McLean, said that decisions on new pools were taken on a case-by-case basis, taking into consideration the facilities available in the area.

She added: "There are costs and risks associated with operating swimming pools in schools and we have to carefully consider what space will give the best educational benefits for our young people.

"Our Active Schools team work closely in partnership with Fife Sports and Leisure Trust to bring swimming to as many school pupils as possible.

"We've been involved in a number of projects over the past five years, including free swimming for P1 pupils, to get more children learning this important life skill."

It's not clear what will happen with the current sites at Inverkeithing, St Columba's and Woodmill when the new high schools open.

Local councillors have argued that The Wing, the community-use provision at Inverkeithing High which has a pool, should remain in some form.

Cllr Barratt said: "It is the last public access swimming pool in South and West Fife so for that reason it really does need to be maintained.

"I'm proposing a community consultation in March to ask key questions about what the community wants for the site.

"There's a perception it will all go for housing and I certainly wouldn't be supportive of that.

"I do think if a small part was sold for housing it would allow us to cross-subsidise a much more ambitious community development where we can keep the pool or even get a better one."

He said similar discussions would take place in Abbeyview to ascertain what the community want to happen when the current St Columba's and Woodmill schools close in 2024.

If the school facilities are closed and not replaced, it would leave Carnegie Leisure Centre as the main pool in West Fife for children – and adults as two of the school pools are open for community-use – to go for a dip or to learn to swim.

The centre in Dunfermline has had well-publicised issues with maintenance over the years, resulting in a number of repairs and closures, and a lack of alternative venues will pose questions about whether it could cope with the number of kids and adults who want to get in the water to learn a life skill.

Asked about this, a spokesperson for the Fife Sports and Leisure Trust said they had bounced back from COVID closures to become "Scotland’s biggest provider of swimming lessons" with 6,993 participants in their Learn to Swim programme, which is run at nine facilities across the Kingdom.

She added: "The programme offers people of all ages, from babies to older adults, the chance to get in the water and progress seamlessly through class levels, either building confidence, becoming a competent swimmer, progressing onto club level or learning new disciplines like water polo or rookie lifeguard training."