Community & Business
27 November, 2024
Community to fight for new pool
MT Garnet residents have vowed not to give up on getting a new pool for their small town and have cast doubt over Tablelands Regional Council’s $3 million estimate to build a new facility.
The ageing pool has been closed to the public since March 2020 and despite the community stepping up to offer to manage and maintain the new facility, the council decided to decommission the current pool complex and not replace it.
According to Mt Garnet Pool Association vice-president Heather Payne, the council has “inflated” the estimated cost to build a new pool.
“Firstly, the cost of building a new pool of similar size is less than $1 million, not $3 million,” she said.
“In May, the council notified the community that they had received two estimates of $600,000 and $960,000.
“And, by June, the TRC had already allocated $500,000 from the State Government’s program, Works4Queensland for a rebuild.
“After discussions between the Minister for Sport and Tourism, Member for Hill Shane Knuth, the Mayor and the Pool Committee, the State Government indicated its interest in providing further money for the rebuild and asked the TRC to give a cost estimate.
“The inflated figure of $3 million was then tendered, including all other expenses, including demolition, and many optional and unnecessary extras. There was no consultation with the community on this report.”
Cr Annette Haydon also questioned the $3 million cost estimate at the last meeting and was the only councillor who argued that the small community deserved a new facility..
Ms Payne said that with the change in State Government, the pool committee was now preparing to negotiate with both State and Federal governments for further funding.
“Our sincere thanks go to Shane Knuth for all his help and support, as well as our wonderful local Cr Annette Haydon, the only person on the TRC to vote for our pool.”
At the time council made its decision not to replace the pool, it allocated the $500,000 from the Works4Queensland fund to other projects, but not in Mt Garnet.
Mr Knuth told The Express last week, he feels “gutted” by the outcome and acknowledged it would be harder to get State funding now that the council had “withdrawn their support to the Mt Garnet community”.
“We will be reaching out to the new Minister to seek support now that council has pulled the plug on this project,” he said.
Ms Payne was damning in her assessment of the council decision, saying the council was “happy to splash the cash” to the tune of millions of dollars for recreational facilities and developments in all other parts of the shire, but they were “once again discriminating against the residents of their most remote and disadvantaged region”.
“Where is the equity? This is a vital asset and should be regarded as an investment in the future of our town,” she said.
“I wonder how many of the councillors, Mayor and service officers have ever lived in a remote area or struggled to keep their families fed.
“Despite their words, they have no understanding or compassion. We might not have much money, but we do value the lives of our children and youth and a swimming pool is the one facility that will benefit everyone in the community – young and old, teens, families, the fit or disabled, even visitors and tourists.
“I urge all fair-minded Tablelanders to support us in our battle to get the Mt Garnet Pool rebuilt and reopened. We are not going to give up!”
The community raised funds to pay for their first pool which was built in 1983 after an eight-year-old child drowned swimming in a local waterway. Ms Payne said the community was now ready to step up again, managing and maintaining the pool complex, meaning council would only have to pay for the chemicals.
“The council informed us that the annual cost of operation and maintenance of the old pool 2023/24 was approximately $40,000. Most of this was the cost of labour ($29,000), which we have guaranteed to cover by volunteers,” she said.
“This leaves just the cost of chemicals, electricity and insurance, say $10,000. The TRC gives $5000 to the Malanda Pool and $34,000 to the Atherton Pool, so surely they can subsidise the Mt Garnet Pool for some of these costs.
“The recommendation from a service officer that a pool is not ‘viable’ is patently untrue. Of course, it won’t make a profit, which seems to be the only thing the TRC is interested in.”
