Heritage group accuses Bartels of ‘stating untruths’ about pool demolition

The thorny issue of the Anzac Pool demolition has arisen again with social media posts from a councillor sparking outrage among heritage advocates.

The thorny issue of the Anzac Pool demolition has arisen again with social media posts from a councillor sparking outrage among heritage advocates.

A war of words over the vexed issue of the Anzac Pool ended with a Bundaberg councillor blocking members of the local heritage group from his social media pages after they accused him of spreading “untruths” about the pool’s controversial demolition.

Incumbent Division 1 councillor Jason Bartels posted an announcement on his “Jason Bartels Councillor for Division 1” Facebook page informing followers that a planned ‘meet the candidates’ forum had been cancelled.

MORE NEWS: Winching, underwater escapes: Rescue chopper doctor reveals ‘weird fear’ of job

When a user commented that the forum was a missed opportunity to ask Mr Bartels about the funds spent on the demolition of Anzac Pool and the construction of the Bundaberg Aquatic Centre, Mr Bartels said the pool demolished in 2022 was “ageing infrastructure” that needed to be replaced in order to meet the needs and expectations of the community.

Mr Bartels said the pool, established as a war memorial in 1923, was "never going to meet the criteria for heritage listing".

Mr Bartels went on to say that council commissioned its own heritage assessment of Anzac Pool and, controversially, implied that heritage listing was an impossibility for the pool and war memorial built in 1923.

“The facility was never going to meet the criteria for heritage listing,” Mr Bartels said.

“State government were also aware of this.”

Mr Bartels appears to have been referring to the decision by Meaghan Scanlon not to make a stop order halting the demolition of Anzac Pool in July 2022, in her capacity as minister for the environment.

In the letter Ms Scanlon said she was “not satisfied … that (Anzac Pool) is likely to satisfy one or more of the cultural heritage criteria” contained in the Queensland Heritage Act.

However, documents obtained by former councillor Mary Walsh through a right to information request showed that the department of environment and science had made a recommendation to the heritage council that Anzac Pool be entered in the heritage register as a state heritage place.

Bundaberg council CEO Steve Johnston received the Department of Environment and Science's recommendation that Anzac Pool be added to the Queensland Heritage Register on September 2, three days before the demolition of the pool began.

An email sent by the executive officer of the Queensland Heritage Council, Jo Ketter, informing chief executive Steve Johnston that they had recommended the pool for heritage listing arrived in Mr Johnston’s inbox at 1.52pm on Friday, September 2.

Despite this, the demolition work on Anzac Pool began the following Monday, September 5, with Ms Scanlon releasing a statement that while the decision to proceed with the demolition rested with council, she encouraged it to “take on board and best reflect community feedback” in the context of outrage from some sections of the community.

The historical context of the pool’s demolition, including Ms Ketter’s recommendation that the pool be entered on the heritage register, appears to contradict Mr Bartels’ assertion that the pool “was never going to meet the criteria for heritage listing”.

The commencement of the demolition of the pool despite the department's recommendation sparked outrage in the community, which Meaghan Scanlon said council should "take on board".

Mr Bartels did not respond to questions asking if he had any information to support his claim that the pool would not be heritage listed.

His comments stirred outrage among those who had advocated for the pool’s preservation.

Friends of Anzac Memorial Pool president Jann Edwards told Mr Bartels he had “state(d) untruths” by asserting that the pool was not going to be heritage listed, and challenged his view that the pool was “in a state of disrepair”.

Mr Bartels deleted Ms Edwards’ comments from his page and made a new post on Wednesday morning saying “trolls are at it again and taking every opportunity to try to discredit not only myself but council as well”.

Ms Edwards said Mr Bartels had blocked her and “basically all of the people on the heritage group” from his page.

Friends of Anzac Memorial Pool president Jann Edwards accused Mr Bartels of “stating untruths” by asserting that the pool was not going to be heritage listed.

Speaking on Wednesday, Ms Edwards said she was “just so cranky” when she saw the claims posted by Mr Bartels, and hoped the exchange would serve as a reminder to the community about the charges of insufficient transparency which have been levelled against the council.

“How can councillors get away with putting those sorts of things on their Facebook pages, expecting people to believe them,” she said.

MORE NEWS: ‘Bombshell revelation’: Inside the red hot issues of each council candidate

“People need to remember that they’re still not being transparent … there’s no consultation with anything that they do.

“It’s not democracy when you can’t comment on something or ask a question … and then you just get blocked.”