Former Councillor questions legitimacy of Bundaberg Councils' Anzac Pool demolition process

The fight between Bundaberg Regional Council and a group of residents who campaigned hard to save the historic Anzac Pool site refuses to die down, with advocates now calling on Jack Dempsey to get the sack.

Outraged advocates for the Anzac Pool have given Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey and council CEO Steve Johnston a thumbs down after parts of the historic site were demolished this week.

A “Sack Jack” sign accompanied a group of local residents at the pool on Monday afternoon, where one advocate familiar with council planning processes expressed her concern and anger.

Former Bundaberg councillor Mary Walsh questioned council’s adherence to its delegation policy.

She claimed the Anzac Pool demolition was a controversial topic in the community, and should not have been under the sole delegation of the CEO.

Advocates have called on Mayor Jack Dempsey to be sacked following the demolition of Anzac Pool.

The councils' delegation policy states “where a matter is contentious, controversial, or otherwise warrants consideration by Council, the delegate should not act or exercise any delegated power or function in relation to that matter”.

Ms Walsh also questioned Environment Minister Megan Scanlon’s decision to not put a stop works order on the demolition and called on the minister to review the decision.

Former Bundaberg councillor Mary Walsh said the council's delegation policy suggested the controversial pool demolition should have been left to councillors to decide.

Council never published any minutes on the decision to demolish the pool, meaning the decision was not made at a council meeting.

“A delegation is revocable and does not prevent council in acting in a matter should it be necessary,” Ms Walsh said.

“Both the Mayor and CEO have been key persons in the state government bureaucracy in their previous lives. The CEO is a former acting deputy director of Local Government for Queensland, the Mayor, a previous Minister for Police.

“Both would know the council has a Delegations Policy.

“The State Government was made aware of process concerns about relying on that approval.

“The local member and the State Government were advised on 1 September and 5 September and again three days ago.”

Mr Johnston said a “controversial” matter only applied to those matters deemed “controversial” between councillors, not the community.

“Plans to redevelop Anzac Park incorporated the demolition of the pool and wasn’t regarded as controversial as only one councillor voted against it at the budget meeting,” he said.

Photos appear to show the demolition being carried out bit by bit, with parts taken off the roof of the change rooms, and parts of the pool being destroyed, rather than destroying whole sections one at a time.

Advocates noticed the Anzac Pool demolition was being completed bit-by-bit rather than in whole sections.

Ms Walsh also said the council did not have a publicly available assets disposal policy.

“Both [CEO and Mayor] would know the requirements for disposal of an asset, for including that into an annual budget, the legislated limits, and the need to obtain quotes,” she said.

Work is underway to demolish Anzac Pool, despite a number of community members being opposed.

“Council has disposed of that heritage and that facility.

“There is a legislated process for disposal of a non-current asset over $5000 and over $15,000.”

Mr Johnston said the demolition was included in the council’s adopted Budget for 2022-23.

“It included an allocation of $8.9 million for the Anzac Park development project,” he said.

“The plans for that project clearly indicated that the old pool would need to be demolished to allow the re-development to take place.

“There was also an allocation within the budget of $600,000 to demolish and remove the old pool complex.”

Devastated advocates watched on as heavy machinery got to work on pieces of the former Anzac War Memorial Pool on Monday afternoon, despite Federal Minister for Hinkler Keith Pitt and Burnett MP Stephen Bennett speaking against it in Parliament.

Ms Walsh said it was a shame to see a war memorial being destroyed.

“It seems it’s Best We Forget, not Lest We Forget,” she said.

The NewsMail put questions to Mr Dempsey regarding how he felt about comments made by community members to sack him, and his response to the community’s grief over the Anzac Pool demolition, but he did not respond to enquiries.

Originally published as Former Councillor questions legitimacy of Bundaberg Councils' Anzac Pool demolition process