The Dubbo community will soon have a chance to say what they would like at the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre.
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Dubbo Regional Council is developing a master plan for the pool. As part of the $29,500 development of the plan, the public will be invited to give feedback on what the pool needs.
Councillor Jane Diffey said Dubbo only have one heated, indoor pool had been a concern of hers for some time. Cr Diffey said it was six or seven years ago, when the indoor pool at Fitness Focus closed its indoor pool, that she approached council about the issue.
“With the unfortunate position the RSL has now found themselves in we find ourselves in a position where we have children with no access to vital swimming lessons, there’s no opportunity to continue training in the colder months as members of the community are not able to access swimming as a part of their health and wellbeing,” she said.
“A community indoor heated pool is necessary.”
Mayor Ben Shields said for 30-odd years Dubbo had been lagging behind what a regional city should have when it came to a public pool.
The closure of the Dubbo RSL indoor pool was a great opportunity to look at what the city’s pool needed, he said.
“I am not in any way proposing to go into direct competition with the Dubbo RSL Club….whatever we do do at our pool we should make it a point of difference to what the RSL has to offer. Whether they go down the road of being purely sporting and indoor lap swimming and we look at recreational, family fun options or whatever we should make sure we have collaboration with the RSL to make sure we’re not in direct competition with them,” Cr Shields said.
Council is developing a master plan for the pool which will be presented for adoption at the September council meeting. However, Cr Shields said he wanted to emphasis the master plan did not mean there would be instant changes at the facility.
“This master plan isn’t a green light to say ‘let’s just go and build it’ what it certainly is is doing the planning works behind this new pool to show exactly what we need, what it would cost, and the kind of service it would be proving to the community,” the mayor said.
The master plan would also allow council to apply for grant funding from the government, he said.