Lismore City Council to demolish much-loved Lake Pool

LISMORE City councillors have backed down from spending $2.75 million to refurbish the Lismore Lake Pool, the scene of many happy childhood memories.

GOLD: The Lismore Lake Pool in its prime in the 1970s, as a free public amenity for young and old. Picture: Facebook

HOPES that the once vibrant Lismore Lake Pool would be restored to its former glory have been dashed after Lismore City Council voted overwhelmingly to demolish the defunct precinct at a cost of $450,000.

The council voted on the measure in an extraordinary meeting on May 8.

It follows the council's commissioning of a concept design for the refurbishment of the precinct which costed the project at $2.75 million, plus ongoing maintenance costs.

Lismore mayor Isaac Smith said the cost was too great for the council to afford on its own and the project would have struggled to compete for grant funding.

"I can tell you it wasn't an easy decision," he said.

GOLD: The Lismore Lake Pool in its prime in the 1970s, as a free public amenity for young and old. Picture: Facebook

Cr Smith said originally the council believed it may have costed just $1 million to reopen the pool.

"But the more we looked into it the more we realised how big the job was. We were basically starting from scratch... it's just not a cost that council can bear."

Earlier in the meeting councillor Greg Bennett failed to gain support for a motion to put aside the funds for the project. Cr Bennett ran for mayor at last year's election on a platform of restoring the lake pool, despite a long running campaign on fiscal discipline.

With his motion being voted down, councillors Elly Bird and Eddie Lloyd introduced a motion to not proceed with the refurbishment project.

The motion included allocating $450,000 in 2018/19 to demolish the pool, plus $30,000 per year for maintenance costs of the precinct.

Rosemary Bourne, a member of the Friends of the Lismore Lake Pool, said she was devastated by the decision.

GOOD OLD DAYS: The Lismore Lake in its heyday in 1976. Picture: Facebook

"The community overwhelmingly asked for the Lake Pool to be reopened and suddenly (the council are) ignoring that," she said.

"The Lake Pool was somewhere where everyone would get on; people would come from everywhere... with their family, bring their picnic, sit under the trees.

"It was just a real relaxed friendly atmosphere... a great melting pot where everyone was equal."

Ms Bourne said there was a lot of people in Lismore who couldn't afford the council's paid swimming pools and some of those people whose health conditions would be alleviated with regular exercise.

She added that there wasn't many facilities catering to young teens in Lismore other than skate parks. "The Lake Pool was always something that brought families together," she said.

The council also budgeted a one off $50,000 to develop a strategic plan for the "recreational use and habitat management of the lake precinct", to be implemented in 2019-20.

The motion passed 8-3, with councillors Bennett, Nancy Casson, and Adam Guise voting against.

Cr Smith said the council would now direct its priorities towards developing the Lismore Park masterplan, a concept plan for a public park including a water play area and cafe opposite Lismore Shopping Square.