Loftus Contracting wins tender to demolish Anzac War Memorial Pool

Bundaberg Regional Council has awarded a tender to demolish the Anzac War Memorial Pool after being notified of a heritage application over the site.

Gladstone-based company Loftus Contracting has been awarded the tender to demolish Bundaberg’s Anzac Pool.

It follows a lengthy protest by a group of local residents keen to save the pool from demolition and redevelopment.

Anzac Pool has been closed to swimmers since April 2022.

The closure sparked fury among campaigners, who said Bundaberg Regional Council had promised to keep the pool open until the new Bundaberg Regional Aquatic Facility was built.

“After a fair campaign, the council assured us that they wouldn’t close Anzac pool until a new aquatic centre was built,” campaigner Terry Kelly said in April.

Anzac Pool will be demolished after a tender was awarded to Gladstone-based company Loftus Contracting.

“They then reneged on that … and they have made the excuse that they have secured funding.

“Anzac Pool is too important to Bundaberg to be destroyed.”

The council confirmed on Wednesday that the new aquatic centre would cost more than $83 million to complete, but that the council would receive the GST back due to being GST registered, with the real cost for council totalling $75.8m.

According to the council’s website, a curation consultant has also been appointed to manage the Anzac Park redevelopment.

“As the head contractor prepares to turn the sod on the new Bundaberg Aquatic Centre work continues to progress on the redevelopment of Anzac Park, with the awarding of a tender to Loftus Contracting for the demolition of Anzac Pool and the appointment of Niche Environment and Heritage as memorial curation consultant,” the website reads.

In 2021, $5 was committed by the Federal Government to redevelop Anzac Park to include the Anzac Pool, an outdoor entertainment area and an Anzac memorial work.

Campaigner Angela Lathouras said they were informed at the time that the Anzac Park redevelopment would be able to continue without the closing of the Anzac pool; but that no longer appears to be the case.

“It’s a piece of our history which we want to preserve and if you look back at the riverside masterplan of 2015, the pool is there and is incorporated and an article in Bundaberg Now in 2020 said the pool would be incorporated,” she said.

Ms Lathouras and others attended the council meeting on Tuesday, August 23, to see if the council would mention awarding the tender to demolish Anzac Pool.

They were hoping to hear good news, including a reversal of that decision, but to no avail.

“We’ve had support from a lot of local people, seniors in their 80s and 90s, which is very unusual for people at that stage of their life to take up a cause, but there has been a lot of support from people in that demographic,” Ms Lathouras said.

During the meeting, Mayor Jack Dempsey accused division 5 councillor Greg Barnes of speaking to the media prior to opposing the timing of the project.

The NewsMail has since been told by a source who watched the drama unfold during a live streaming of the meeting that they will be making a complaint to the council watchdog in relation to the incident and the Mayor’s conduct.

Ms Lathouras said she was disappointed she was not allowed to ask a question in relation to the aquatic centre when it was read out as part of the agenda.

“Despite putting my hand up and waving my arm, [the Mayor] still ignored me,” she said.

Bundaberg council has confirmed Anzac Pool will be demolished after key protesters attended a council discussion to determine the future of Anzac Pool.

Ms Lathouras said an application had been made to consider the Anzac Park Memorial Pool as a Queensland Heritage-listed site, but the council went ahead with the tender process anyway.

The Department of Environment and Science confirmed that a letter was sent to the council on July 7, 2022.

“The department’s Heritage Branch is currently considering an application to have the Anzac Park Memorial Pool in Bundaberg considered for entry in the Queensland Heritage Register,” a DES spokesperson said.

“As required under the Queensland Heritage Act, the Bundaberg Regional Council were notified of the heritage application on 7 July 2022.

“As part of the Queensland Heritage Register application process, the department will next contact the Bundaberg Regional Council, the applicants and those who made submissions with a notice of recommendation when it is complete.”

It’s believed a letter from Australian War Memorial director Matt Anderson was also included in the heritage application.

Bundaberg council has not yet revealed the expected date of the Anzac Pool demolition.