Council votes for restoration of Lismore Lake Pool

SUPPORT has been granted by Lismore City Council for a motion to restore the Lismore Lake Pool.

Lismore councillor Greg Bennett has kicked off a campaign to see the Lismore Lake Pool refurbished and reopened. Picture: Hamish Broome

SUPPORT has been granted by Lismore City Council for a motion to restore the Lismore Lake Pool.

A motion by Councillor Greg Bennett was voted on at last night's council meeting, with 5/4 councillors voting in support of the motion (two councillors were absent).

The motion read: "That Council commit to restoring the Lismore Lake Pool at South Lismore as a free facility for the public and commence the project by:

• Including the project in the upcoming review of the Community Strategic Plan;
• Proceeding on the basis of no lifeguard supervision being provided at the facility;
• Including an amount of $55,000 in the 2016/17 budget to undertake detailed planning and investigations, prepare documentation and call tenders for the work;
• Proceed on the basis that all capital works funding for the project is from reoccurring income and/or grant income or a combination of both and that no new borrowings are instigated for this project."

Following the meeting last night, Cr Bennett wrote on his Facebook page:

"A fabulous result tonight."

"As usual everything moved pretty fast, Councillor Battista seconded the motion I'm pretty sure where the rest voted but I will wait for the minutes tomorrow just to be certain.

"As a result of the motion Council will now allocate $55K to undertake the tender process.

"Funding is still needed for construction and since I stipulated that no borrowings should be part of the mix it will need to come from free cash flow and grants.

"This motion gets the ball rolling but there is still a lot of work to do and it will be the next Council that will make or break this."