Background to the Pool

March 11 2007

Delivery of a pool is a major project and may take a number of years to deliver. The process in brief is:
1. Convince Council via a well documented case study that it should provide a pool.
2. Undertake a detail design of the pool.
3. Determine an appropriate location for a pool.
4. Deliver the pool.
I have been successful in the first step. There may be some in community who consider that the Council resolution to deliver a 25m pool is inappropriate and that Council should deliver either a bigger pool, or multiple pools. Those people will need to demonstrate that those additional facilities are warranted. Council has already examined our current and future populations and consider that while we are a marginal case, they would still like to deliver a single 25 metre pool. 
The second step is underway. It involves a further refinement of the original design. For example, Council has agreed based upon a broad study that it would like to deliver certain features in the  pool. For example, we currently consider that 10 lanes would be good. 

Council staff, however will critically examine this and may determine that 8 or 12 lanes are more appropriate.
In respect to a location, two independent studies recommended the showgrounds as the best location, however those studies were considering the whole of town and results of consultation but did not pay a whole lot of attention to the specific site. That is, they did not consider whether or not it would fit. Apart from the fact that this was not part of their brief, the detail design is required to describe exactly what footprint will be required.
The fourth step seemed to be a real possibility due to a couple of factors surrounding the existing pool. Those factors have changed and funding for a new pool is likely to be a number of years away. Some people may consider that developing housing on the Maleny Community
Precinct could bring forward new facilities. Perhaps it can, but this leads into a whole other debate about whether Council should stick to its existing program of asset delivery, or whether it should ignore that plan to provide a pool at a time when there may be other priorities in
the budget. Councils policy on land sales remains that any funds will be put into general revenue to be used city wide. Councillors have privately indicated that any profits made from land sales on the Maleny Community Precinct should be shared city wide as it is the city that has
taken a gamble on Council being a property developer. Of course, community may determine that they do not want housing on that land.  
The advice I have received from Councils Project Manager, is that a new pool may be possible by 2011. Consultation has occurred on the steps so far and will continue.  I think it would be fair to say that there has been very little visible support for Council to deliver a new pool to Maleny and a whole lot of opposition. Council will not look to bring forward projects that do not have community support. 
Best regards 

Dick Newman

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