Campaspe Shire Mayor Chrissy Weller will chair what she has described as the “biggest community debate of my time” when council makes a decision on the future of its seven outdoor aquatic facilities tomorrow night.
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Cr Weller spoke to Campaspe News on Sunday afternoon to explain the passion that the debate on the future of the pools had drawn from the community.
“I expect this to be the most watched council meeting of my time. It is certainly the biggest community debate of my time,” Cr Weller said.
Campaspe Shire councillors will vote on a recommendation to close the Tongala, Stanhope, Rushworth, Colbinabbin and Lockington pools at the end of this summer.
A second part of the recommendation will be a vote on closing the Kyabram and Rochester pools at the end of the 2025 summer.
Cr Weller said the debate would not just be between councillors, with six community members allowed to present their case to the meeting.
Those people will have to register their intention to address the council by noon today in order to be heard on the pool recommendations.
Cr Weller said the meeting was due to be a face-to-face meeting of the nine councillors, unless something mandatory happened in regard to COVID protocols.
She said she was unsure how the six speakers who would be allowed to address the council would be included in the meeting scenario.
“I am not sure how they are doing the speakers, because of the numbers in the room,” she said.
Cr Weller said the pool debate, which has been ongoing since 2016, would be an easier debate to have face to face, rather than online.
“When you go virtual it is really hard, very difficult to have a fluent debate,” she said.
The council recommendation in 2022 is significantly different to the suggested closures of 2016 and 2019, with this council group having to take into consideration a rather hefty financial windfall for their constituents if the recommendation of decommissioning the pools is passed through council.
Council’s decision is also complicated by the fact the pools have created so much debate in the community, with an online petition already in place.
Cr Weller said the financial offer from council for town facility plans would make the debate even more interesting.
Tongala, Stanhope, Rushworth and Lockington communities stand to receive in excess of $700,000 for a community facility (the equivalent of what it costs to operate these pools for five years) and at Colbinabbin the windfall would be more than $400,000.
But whether or not the community, or more precisely councillor, consent can be swayed by the promise of funding will not be known until a vote is called for by Cr Weller.
This offer, for savings to be poured back into the respective communities if the pools are close, was not on the table in 2016 and 2019.
Cr Weller said she hoped communities could think outside the square when it came to the pool decision.
“It would be great to hear from the communities about what options are out there,” she said.
“This is a suggested offer, the council officer’s recommendation.
“It is up to the community to make sure they contact their councillors. It is a hard decision.”
Cr Weller said she hoped the community would read the agenda on council’s website and flag with their council representatives the direction in which they wanted to continue.
She did admit that on viewing the full report the pool financials “just don’t add up”
“But that’s not what our communities are about,” Cr Weller said.
“As a councillor we need to listen to the communities.
“I think the debate will be really good.”
Cr Weller said the debate was made complicated for councillors because they shared a joint responsibility — to council and to the community.
“Councillors can put a different recommendation forward,” she said.
“It is clear the community considers these pools vital assets.
“I hope we see not only the passionate arguments, but also the considered arguments.”
Cr Weller said her email had become a “pool hotline” and she would be using Monday to read as much information and feedback as she could before the meeting.
She told Campaspe News that councillors from the affected wards would have no doubt received plenty of feedback.
“This recommendation does not mean that communities cannot have a pool, it may just mean that the pool has a different look,” she said.
“It will be pretty interesting to watch on.”
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor