West Lakes residents rally to save beloved Freshwater Lake from being filled in

A council has made the call on a contentious proposal to fill in a freshwater lake – despite a steep bill to clear it of duck poo – but not before locals raised a stink.

A council proposal to fill in a beloved urban oasis sent the West Lakes community into damage control.

Now a radical plan to remove Freshwater Lake at Delfin Island has been shelved.

At Monday night’s City of Charles Sturt council meeting, a community consultation survey revealed locals people were overwhelmingly against the proposal.

When The Messenger spoke to concerned lake users in mid-February, tensions had reached boiling point over the revelation ratepayers would be slugged a one-off charge of $900,000 to desludge the ponds of duck poo.

About 630 people responded to the council’s community consultation on the issue with just 21 saying filling in the lake was a reasonable way forward.

A 129-signature petition was also set to be presented and accepted at the council meeting.

On the basis of the feedback, the council’s strategic planner Mark Hannan recommended the fill-in plan be “set aside” according to the meeting agenda.

Four options were originally put forward: Two included leaving the structure of the lake untouched, while two considered either reducing the space of the lake or removing it altogether.

“Given the strong response in support of retention of Freshwater Lake – it is considered appropriate to amend the scope of the review with regard to these findings,” Mr Hannan said.

“The (removal) options will be removed from the scope of the review and will no longer be considerations for further investigation.”

When the council voted unanimously on Monday night to take the final two options away, they took into account an earlier deputation from Friends of the Duck Pond West Lakes group founder Robyn Haworth.

Ms Haworth addressed the council and described her uneasiness at the words “set aside”, before Mayor Angela Evans conceded the wording could be removed.

Councillor Gerard Ferrao said the options would “never be heard in these council chambers again”.

Ms Haworth said the battle was not entirely over.

“The community spirit is high and, in this case, triumphant,” she said.

“(But) we will, as a community, stay with the process and ensure the right decisions are made going forward.”

Friends of the Duck Pond West Lakes founder Robyn Haworth at the ponds ahead of the council meeting. Picture: Brinley Duggan

Ms Haworth said despite the “positive step” taken by council, she still had concerns about the process of consultation and the impact it had on the community.

“This isn’t just people up in arms because they’re trying to be difficult; people were actually grieving the loss of the lake before it had actually gone,” she said.

The council launched community consultation into the future of Freshwater Lake at Delfin Island late last year.

By the end of February, a 500-strong petition from now-state treasurer Stephen Mullighan had circulated and an online group against the plan had attracted 850 new members.

When The Messenger spoke to concerned lake users in mid-February, tensions had reached boiling point over the revelation ratepayers would be slugged a one-off charge of $900,000 to desludge the ponds of duck poo.

Council chief executive Paul Sutton maintained the proposal was merely part of a scope of community consultation about the lake’s future.

Despite Mr Sutton’s response, people power proved persuasive and protestors assembled at the ponds to express their discontent at the proposition.

Weeks later, at the next council meeting, Mr Ferrao attempted to remove the option to completely fill in the lakes.

Mr Sutton was at the time amenable to the suggestion, but Mayor Angela Evans interjected and said the fourth option was necessary for the overall consultation.