Gladstone swimming pool in Kempsey Shire facing closure as costs rise
A public pool on the Mid-North Coast built in honour of war veterans more than 60 years ago faces closure, with the local council saying it’s “unaffordable”.
Mid-North Coast
Don't miss out on the headlines from Mid-North Coast. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A public pool in the Kempsey Shire originally built in honour of war veterans more than 60 years ago faces closure, with the local council saying it has “become unaffordable”.
The Macleay Memorial Pool in Gladstone was officially opened in 1963 and was the result of a policy to build about 70 pools across the state to provide a safe place to swim and honour veterans, particularly those who served in WWII.
Gladstone is a picturesque little village on the banks of the Macleay River with tea houses and galleries making it popular with travellers.
Now, an independent review into the future of the shire’s aquatic facilities has found increasing operating costs, low usage and the availability of nearby options makes it unviable.
The recommendation to close the pool is one of 16 considerations in the Kempsey Shire Council draft Aquatic Strategy, now on public exhibition.
The council’s group manager of commercial business Peter Allen said the draft strategy was a 10-year road map for the four pools in the shire, based on analysis of usage and running costs, community survey results and industry benchmarking.
Gladstone is one of four pools in the shire, the others are at Kempsey, Crescent Head and South West Rocks.
“Data shows providing four aquatic facilities for a population of 31,000 people far exceeds what is provided in other Local Government Areas,” Mr Allen said.
“At a cost of over $1 million a year to operate the facilities, we need to consider the value for money for the entire community in context of Council’s overall financial position.”
Mr Allen said the Gladstone pool has the lowest visitation numbers of all of the shire’s pools by far – about 2000 to 3000 visits per annum. It is located a short drive from the South West Rocks and Kempsey pools.
“We recognise that this is a longstanding asset and some people will be very disheartened to hear the recommendation to close it, however, council is facing rising costs to manage our ageing pools and, unfortunately, managing four pools has become unaffordable,” he said.
“There are significant challenges for almost all our facilities. None are currently operating at the industry benchmark.”
The draft strategy recommends savings from closing Gladstone could assist with water play and infrastructure improvements at the Kempsey complex, heating the South West Rocks pool to enable year round use, or improvements at Crescent Head pool.
The draft strategy is on exhibition until October 27 before it goes before the council in November.
‘Do your job’: Ex-fire captain in court over violent outburst
A Mid-North Coast Rural Fire Service captain stood down when he was slapped with domestic violence charges has now been sentenced. Here’s what happened in court.
‘Hard to fathom’: Public speak up in hunt for Bowraville child killer
Homicide detectives are busy taking statements as they probe the suspected murder of three children from Bowraville in the 1990s, with a focus on finding the remains of 16-year-old Colleen Walker-Craig. Here’s the latest.