Lifeline for pools
POOL supporters are breathing a sigh of relief with the promise local outdoor pools will remain open.
Public consultations and online forums have proven to South Gippsland Shire Council pools are important to local communities.
Council moved to adopt a new aquatic strategy for the next five years and will continue to work alongside pool support groups.
“Overall, this document is very positive and shows council is looking to commit to supporting the pools,” Mirboo North pool committee president Fred Couper said.
“We are very happy and we will wait and see what happens over the next year and how attendance looks. Council have finally come through and we are happy where we are.”
President of the Foster pool committee Ian Lyon said the committee is pleased the community no longer has ongoing uncertainty about the future of the pool.
“Ratepayers want the pool retained. Maintenance and operation is a justified use of ratepayers’ money,” he said.
“The new strategy is reasonable and an advancement on the previous strategy. The fact council offices have recognised and accepted that pools are highly regarded by the local community is very welcomed.”
Cr Don Hill said there were a few issues with the proposed pool strategy. He believed a level playing field should be set for Foster, Mirboo North and Poowong pools with a trigger of 4000 attendees.
The trigger points refer to the level of attendance based on a 20 per cent increase of the last five year average.
“Changing the trigger points from the original values to the average of the last five years will favour Korumburra, Foster and Poowong pools but will penalise Mirboo North,” he said.
“Mirboo North could have more attendees but will still be the one to face council. It’s hardly fair and reasonable; a cost to council and a stress on the community.”
Cr Hill’s motion of dissent was lost but the outcome of the meeting remained positive.
Council also moved for section 86 committees to be revoked.
“Section 86 committees were established a long time ago to manage outdoor pools,” council’s manager of community strengthening Ned Dennis said.
“Now pools are managed by contact and we don’t community committees. However, volunteers donating their time are still vital for the pools.”
The Poowong pool revoked its committee a few years ago and has been achieved success under the management of council and its contractor.
“Contractors manage the overall performance. Last summer, the contractors managed to open the pool every day we experienced high temperatures,” Mr Dennis said.
Mr Couper said the Mirboo North’s section 86 committee will be absorbed into the Friends of the Mirboo North Pool Group, which will be actively working to build a positive relationship with its contractor the YMCA.
“This will help to ensure our pool is running better and hopefully we will be looking at managing our opening hours,” he said.
“Coming down to 25 degrees would be a step in the right direction. It would certainly offer more flexibility.”
Council is considering lowering the temperature prerequisite for opening outdoor pools.
“Despite temperature restrictions, pools were able to retain flexibility last summer and even opened on short notice if temperatures climbed during the day,” Mr Dennis said.
“We are considering a few more things of that nature to introduce next summer.”
Mr Dennis said the endorsement of pools from the community is clear.
“The OurSay forum certainly reminded council about how much the community cares about the pools,” he said.
“We receive feedback throughout the year and the message is very strong.”
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Posted by Tayla Kershaw on Jul 28 2015. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry
