THE future of the Mernda pool was on the City of Whittlesea’s radar last Tuesday night, preferring to defer a decision on the delivery of an aquatic and leisure component of the regional sports precinct in the town until Council’s August meeting.
Council agreed that more funding from state and federal governments were needed to help deliver the much talked about pool.
Councillor Jarrod Lappin explained why the decision was made to resolve to defer discussion about the pool.
“Stage three of the regional sports precinct with the pool is the largest infrastructure proposal in the City of Whittlesea’s history. It’s a mammoth project that requires considerable funds, funds that a rate-capped growth council like ours can’t deliver alone without huge demands on our budget,” he said.
“The initial proposal in 2016, of course, could not account for the huge rise in construction material costs in the post-COVID environment, and the uptick in cost is well-led to the 2022 decision by the administration to defer any commitment to stage three until 2026.
“I know that some residents will ask why the pool can’t go ahead right now and will be frustrated by this delay to August for the final decision or consideration.
“Delivery of infrastructure of this scale is never easy, and we need to ensure that we’re covering all bases as we’re going through all the data.”
Cr Lappin said the decision to defer gives the City of Whittlesea more time that they admit is needed.
“This motion which defers the decision to August will give Council a real opportunity to fully explore all options and impacts of the project. We need to take our time with these options and make sure we’re doing everything in our power to produce a quality community outcome,” he said.
Cr Deb Gunn agreed, saying it was a very important issue that needed more resources to resolve.
“This is not something that can be left alone to council to provide, this is something that is going to take all levels of local government, and the time we’re taking to move it back to the August meeting will allow us some of that time to explore options and advocate strongly, especially in the lead-up to the state election,” she said.
Cr Aidan McLindon was very strong in his critique, saying the time was now for the region to receive much-needed infrastructure.
“The more this drags out, the more cost it is to Council just planning this thing, this is the critical infrastructure that we need,” he said.
“Cr Lappin and Cr Gunn are correct, this is an issue that’s been going on and on, and at some point, we need a commitment, not just an election announcement that just rolls off and four years later, it gets re-announced. We’re not getting our fair share of the pie, it’s as simple as that.
“I am pleased that councillors now are starting to get motivated to start putting pressure on these people.”
Cr Daniela Zinni called for calm, saying that community feedback was strong.
“I really want to express my disappointment that this process has, at times, been used by some members of the community and members of parliament to politically point and comment on the matter that is still being under consideration by us as council,” she said.
“It isn’t as straightforward as depicted or portrayed. The community benefits that the aquatic centre can provide was well-documented in 2022 in the business case, but pools aren’t cheap. They’re extremely expensive and the funding from other levels of government is not coming through, so in fact, it is my belief that pools should be funded purely by the state or federal government.
“Our community expects us to undertake the proper due diligence, and carefully consider all the available information, and the options to deliver or not deliver stage three.
“I want to make sure that then people out there listening and the community members that are raging on their social media, they don’t understand how much of an impact this decision will have, not just for us here at Council, but for the future shape of our municipality for decades to come, especially impacting future budgets.
“We need to take a step back, take this a little bit slower than anticipated, and have the community and our members of parliament, on both sides as well, understand how important this decision is, and to give us that space.”
Cr Christine Stow said, however, that two months might still not be enough to deliver a final decision.
“I think this is a very important and large piece of infrastructure. My concern is around, agreeing with the other sentiments around the table… two months, I still don’t feel it will be enough for us to actually consider all the options or what options are on the table, because it is such a big piece of infrastructure,” she said.
The decision to defer the decision on stage three to August was carried unanimously by councillors.