COHUNA councillor Garner Smith has requested council provide information on the structural integrity of all pool shells within the shire.
Cr Smith also requested information at the May ordinary council meeting on a projection, based on current information, of the likelihood of failure of the Cohuna main pool relative to time to 2037; and a recommendation to council of the confidence that the main Cohuna pool, as it currently stands, will still be sound and usable by the community in 2032.
“I personally went to five community sessions to listen to the consultants talk to the community groups and they spoke of the status of the wellbeing of the pool shells,” he said.
“I’m not aware of a proper report on it, so I thought, ‘If they are talking about it, I’d like to know more about it’.
“It’s important because these 70-year-old pools have a limited life span, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they still had 20 to 30 years left in them, however I am not an engineer.”
Cr Smith said it was pertinent to have this information of the Cohuna pool because it was “understood to be at the end of life”.
“There has been an insertion in the 10-year capital works program that we will build a new Cohuna pool, which is a long way down the track for a piece of infrastructure … everyone knows it leaks, everyone knows it’s compromised,” he said.
“So what I would like to know, to have reassurance on behalf of the community, is if it will last until the projected renewal date, which mind you is heavily dependent on external grants and we can’t assume they will come along.
“In the capital works program, it’s not listed to be renewed until 2032 because that’s when money will be allocated, but if grants don’t come our way, we might have to hang out until 2037.”
Cr Keith Link said the aquatic strategy was the “biggest decision this council will make”.
“What Garner is asking for is knowledge – we need every little big of information that we can get, so everything that’s available to digest and make decisions for the future.”
