Backwash: pool campaigners question shire’s need for fifth feasibility study

CAMPAIGNERS for a pool in Torquay say the Surf Coast Shire council is wasting time and money on another feasibility study into the facility, and there are better uses for the $50,000 in spending.

At their January 21 meeting, councillors resolved to carry out the study into an aquatic and health centre with a cost of up to $30 million and with all options to include a 50-metre pool.

It will be the fifth feasibility study into an aquatic centre in Torquay.

The state government has committed $10 million towards the facility and the federal government another $20 million, but Victorian Senator Sarah Henderson (who made the election commitment while she was the Liberal member for Corangamite) has said the federal money is explicitly for a centre with a 50-metre pool.

Speaking after the meeting, Surf Coast Aquatic Leisure Centre Action Group (SCALCAG) spokesperson Colin Fowler said the council should be approaching the issue differently.

“The money’s been put out there but another feasibility study is really wasted money – the $50,000 is much better spent on preliminary drawings so that we can actually cost it out.”

He said SCALCAG was continuing to advocate for a centre with enough ancillary facilities to make it viable and cost-neutral to the council.

“Regardless of 50 or 25 (metres), a pool is a pool – I’d rather have a pool than not have one – but it has to have a hydrotherapy pool, consulting suites, gymnasium, cafe… that’s where you make the money.”

Pools are highly expensive for councils to construct and run, and some councillors at the January 21 meeting worried about the financial implications on the shire if the pool was built.

Cr Brian McKiterick, for example, said he moved the motion “with some trepidation”, “there has been political pressure put on this council” and that “this could be a Trojan horse – you’ve got the gift, but you’ll be the one paying in the end”.

Cr Heather Wellington was the only councillor to oppose the motion, saying she was supportive of a pool but the council did not need to carry out another dedicated feasibility study.

Mr Fowler said the centre would only be a Trojan horse “if it was a 25-metre pool and nothing else”.

“The hydrotherapy pool at Diamond Creek is booked out. TAC and WorkCover will put money towards it (a local hydrotherapy pool); they want one.”