Leitchville Progress Association (LPA), and a collection of key stakeholders in the town, are concerned the Gannawarra Aquatic Strategy could see the closure of the local pool in favour of the pools in the bigger townships of Cohuna and Kerang.
The council has a big decision to make as, for Leitchville residents, the pool is a critical lifeline during the summer months.
In a letter to the Riverine Herald and to Gannawarra Shire councillors, LPA president Mike Walker made the following list of points regarding the closures:
● Ratepayers in the smaller communities deserve services to be maintained just as much as the larger ones, especially now that more people are coming to the country.
●. Council’s strategy is to promote active recreation. Does this not extend to smaller towns?
● Council’s number one goal is to promote livability in the shire. Surely reducing access to swimming pools flies in the face of this – especially with the current emphasis on mental health and looking after our children.
●. We need to attract people to our smaller towns. This can only be done by improving services, not slashing them.
● The net cost to the shire of running the three pools has averaged $15,555 in total per year over the last three years. Hardly a huge expense.
● The pools are run by volunteers, thereby saving on the shire’s administration costs.
“The strategy has been commissioned with consultants from Melbourne who have given (council) a list of strategies for what to do with pools in the shire,” Mr Walker said.
“Basically they are looking at concentrating everything to Kerang and Cohuna, and getting rid of the smaller pools.”
LPA vice president Sandy Georgaras and secretary Michael Churchill are some of the town's most recent additions, the pair moving from Surrey Hills in Melbourne in January of this year.
“We're new to town, we moved in the height of summer,” Mr Churchill said.
“It's clear that — in a town of 200 people — the pool in summer is the only thing for the kids to do, other than looking at their screens at home or going out looking for trouble.
“If we lose the pool, kids will have nothing to do, but one of the benefits of having a pool is that kids aren't swimming in creeks or weirs or unsupervised locations that have so many hazards.
“The benefits are enormous, and the costs are small.”
Both Gunbower and Leitchville schools also use the pool as their base for swimming lessons as part of the school curriculum.
However, other than swimming, the pool provides Leitchville with an activity place for tourists and travelers, according to Mr Walker.
“We have an RV stop in town near the pool which attracts a great deal of traffic in terms of people staying overnight,” Mr Churchill said.
“They use the pool and the showers associated with the pool, but they will also visit every business in town while they're here.”
Ryan O'Mahoney, the Leitchville Hotel publican and father of five dedicated Leitchville pool users, said the cost of losing the pool was greater to the community than to council.
“(Gannawarra Shire) is looking at it from a ‘cost to council’ point of view, rather than what is the cost to the community for removing the pool,” Mr O'Mahoney said.
“They can't measure the youth engagement with the pool, and how may kids it keeps out of weirs and irrigation.
“(The pool) employs a lot of our youth. During summertime, we have lots of kids home from university, lots of kids finish for the school year, and they work that the pool.
“If we lose the pool, we lose that.”
The draft of the Gannawarra Shire Aquatic Strategy is tabled for discussion at the council meeting this week on Wednesday, September 15.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 6.30pm and will be live-streamed for the public on the Gannawarra Council website at www.gannawarra.vic.gov.au/Council/Council-Meetings/Meeting-livestream
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