Kyabram Deakin ward Councillors Daniel Mackrell and Colleen Gates mixed with more than 100 participants at last week’s Save Our Pools rally before council made a unanimous decision to put off the decision on the future of the shire’s outdoor pools until May 2023.
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Placards reading Save Our Pools, some with even more pointed messages, greeted half a dozen councillors who spoke with the rally participants before entering council chambers and listening to presentations from six speakers — including Kyabram’s Jack Norris and Susan Weardon.
The suggested decommissioning date for Tongala, Stanhope, Colbinabbin, Lockington and Rushworth pools was at the end of the 2022 summer, but council has agreed to complete its Town Facility Plans before making a decision.
A deadline for the completion of those plans has been announced as May 2023, with all these plans certain to now involve (if they didn’t before) some sort of aquatic facility for the towns.
The touted 2025 closure of Kyabram and Rochester was also scrapped, as all seven pools have now been included in the same time frame.
A motion moved by Cr Adrian Weston was supported unanimously as — for the third time since 2016 — the pools’ decommissioning was delayed by people power.