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General News

19 December, 2020

Local pool gets donated to TRC.

A mysterious and hard to find swimming hole may soon be added to tourist maps after a small sliver of land is gifted to the Tablelands Regional Council (TRC).

By Phil Brandel

University student Grace Arnold – Nott from Beatrice who has been swimming at Con’s since she was a little girl.
University student Grace Arnold – Nott from Beatrice who has been swimming at Con’s since she was a little girl.

A mysterious and hard to find swimming hole may soon be added to tourist maps after a small sliver of land is handed back to the Tablelands Regional Council (TRC).

Con’s Pool in Millaa Millaa was originally owned by Con Hennessey who was the first registered student at the Milllaa Milla Public school.

Over the years, the land had changed hands several times with the owners not being able to secure public indemnity insurance in case of an accident.

In August of this year Millaa Millaa real estate agent Pat Reynolds sold the property to the new owner's Charlie Veron and Mary Stafford-Smith. Mr Reynolds said while explaining the history of the property the new owners came up with the idea of gifting the land back to the council.

“They wanted to look into a way that locals could have safe and easy access to the pool.” Mr Reynolds said.

Mary Stafford-Smith said they felt it was the simplest way to sort out the problems related to the swimming hole.

“It’s been a local landmark for a long time and when we bought the land, we wanted it to remain as it is,” she said.

“It just seems like the simplest solution to a long term problem and we are happy to donate it back to the public.”

TRC Councillor Dave Bilney said Cons Pool had have been an iconic swimming hole for the local community for more than a century.

“The new owners were concerned about people entering through their property to get access to the pool,” he said.

“They were looking at ways to allow the public to have safe access while taking their public liability away.

“So we met with them about three weeks ago and explained that they can make an application to excise a little piece off their land, which they are happy to do.”

Cr Bilney said the couple are now looking into donating about 100 square metres of land, which will be gifted back as public land which can be used as a corridor down to Con’s Pool.

“This is a feel-good story for the community and also thanks to the generosity of the new owners," he said.

“It’s a great collaboration between the community and council taking a common-sense approach to this.”

University student Grace Arnold – Nott from Beatrice said she had been coming to Con’s pool since she was a little girl. “It’s a great local place to swim, there’s usually heaps of kids running around and swimming,’ she said

“It’s like the local swimming pool; it’s really impressive when it’s full of water.

“It’s great news that the land and pool is going to be handed back to the public.”

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