Community & Business
16 November, 2024
Mt Garnet loses bid for new pool
A BID by the small community of Mt Garnet to get their public swimming pool fixed or replaced has failed after Tablelands Regional Council made the decision to remove the facility altogether.
The ageing pool has been closed to the public since March 2020 and has been the subject of numerous questions from councillors since that time as to why so much money was being used to keep the pool treated with chemicals and for other maintenance of the facility when it was not being used.
At its recent meeting, a report recommended the whole facility be decommissioned with no replacement on the agenda. The report indicated the cost of a new pool would be $3 million.
Before council made its decision, Mt Garnet Pool Association vice-president Heather Payne asked the council to find a way to fix or replace their pool and had provided council with an operational plan for the facility which included volunteers willing to provide maintenance and management of the pool as well as locals prepared to train as lifeguards.
The group also provided support letters from community organisations and had previously provided the council with a petition signed by 200 people.
One of Ms Payne’s main arguments as to why a pool was so critical to Mt Garnet was that kids would have somewhere safe to swim and an opportunity to learn how to swim.
“Before the pool closed, all students – from prep to Year 1 – had 20 swimming lessons a year. Unfortunately now, children are forced to catch a bus for an hour just to access two lessons a year,” she said.
Her words were not enough to sway the council, but resonated with Cr Annette Haydon who tried to convince her fellow councillors to support a new pool.
“Council is supposed to support a healthy, active, safe lifestyle until it comes to Mt Garnet,” she said.
“We can throw millions towards Priors Creek (redevelopment) but nothing for Mt Garnet. The care factor for Mt Garnet from this TRC is nearly non-existent.”
Cr Kevin Cardew said the decision to decommission the pool was a difficult one.
“If someone deserves a pool, it’s Mt Garnet. We cannot come up with a viable solution to either build a new pool or fix the pool.
“My heart goes out to the community but I can’t support a new pool.”
Mayor Rod Marti said the capital investment that would be required for a new pool was too much of a challenge for council and he believed that despite the community’s good intentions to run the pool, the ongoing operational costs of managing the facility would be beyond the capacity of the community.
