A MOTION that Cumberland Council officially marks World Drowning Prevention Day and applies to the government for funding for better swimming facilities has been overwhelmingly rejected.

Councillors Chris Wills (Upperby, Liberal Democrats) and Brian Wernham (Stanwix Urban, Liberal Democrats) proposed the motion at a meeting of the full council on Tuesday afternoon (July 25) at the Civic Centre in Carlisle.

Tuesday was World Drowning Prevention Day and the motion followed the tragic events where two teenagers died as a result of drowning in the River Eden earlier this year.

In addition, Cllr Wills urged the council's chief executive, Andrew Seekings, to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer to demand that the full £1billion of grant funding, which had been recommended by Swim England, which should be made available to local authorities to refurbish and expand their swimming pool provision.

Speaking ahead of the motion being proposed the council leader, councillor Mark Fryer (St Johns and Great Clifton, Labour), said it was a 'tragic incident' earlier this year and offered his condolences to the families.

He said it would have been a good idea if they had spoken with the families of the victims before proposing their motion.

Councillor Anne Quilter (Morton, Labour), who is the portfolio holder for vibrant and healthy places, also offered her condolences to the families and added: "We all want our communities to enjoy swimming safely."

She highlighted a number of initiatives to promote access to swimming facilities including 10p swimming sessions throughout the summer months.

Cllr Quilter said that swimming pools had to be sustainable, needed funding and she would vote against the motion.

Councillor Denise Rollo (Harrington, Labour), who is the portfolio holder for Sustainable, Resilient and Connected Places, also offered her condolences to the families and said the application process for government funding pitted local authorities against one another - she described it as a "Hunger Games-style" bidding process.

Councillor Elaine Lynch (Wigton, Labour), the portfolio holder for Lifelong Learning and Development, was highly critical of the motion and said it was poorly constructed with a 'scattergun approach'.

She added: "If you'd read the reports coming from the council you would see your points had been done or were about to be done."

Cllr Wills said: "I am very surprised with some of the comments."

When the motion was put to the vote 33 members were against, with eight for it and it was rejected.

Speaking after the vote, Cllr Wernham said he was disappointed with the outcome and added: "I think residents will be very unhappy about this result."

He said they had asked for the council to officially mark the day and it had been turned down by the Labour majority who run the executive committee.

He said there was only one swimming teacher for every 500 children in the county. He said: "I think a lot of these things should have been done and should have been adopted by the council today but unfortunately a Labour majority has turned down this very important motion that we've made on swimming safety for our children here in Carlisle."