Pool proposal still afloat despite report

PLANS to extend the operating hours of the Euroa Pool by using volunteers may still be possible, despite Strathbogie Shire Council rejecting the initial proposal at its meeting on Tuesday, 18 February. A petition signed by 18 local residents was received by council in December and sought the extension of the pool’s summer operating hours by using volunteers. An investigation into the proposal by the Director of Community and Planning reported several constraints due to numerous legal and safety compliance obligations. Council voted unanimously to decline the offer of using volunteers and extending the pool hours due to the report’s conclusions. Councillor Gregory Carlson said he moved the resolution for the vote ‘with reluctance’ given the enthusiasm behind the petition and the demonstrated professionalism of the company hired to manage the pool, Belgravia Leisure. “The report is very comprehensive and covers all the relevant issues that we have to consider,” Cr Carlson said. “We're talking about the safety of individuals (and) we all know that the operation of public pools is now a very highly regulated environment. “The operation and the performance of the contractors who run all the pools in the shire apparently is measuring up quite well.” Cr Carlson said that although being a small community meant that Euroa could be disadvantaged compared to ‘our city cousins’, the percentage of locals involved in volunteering was almost twice the state average. He also said that other council-run pools in Victoria did have operations managed by volunteers. “Here we have a group of people who…are offering this voluntary work and, of course, they've run into a brick wall. “However, there are shires in this state that do have voluntary people running their pools. “I think we're under an obligation to find out just how they do that and what are the implications and how they've addressed the very real issues that have to be addressed as outlined in the report that we've been presented with.” Cr Carlson told council he would go on a fact finding mission to other shire councils during the non-swimming season. "We just simply want to know what groups are operating, how they're operating, and how they're complying with the regulations that they have, to satisfy the public safety requirements of a public asset."