In 2018 a masterplan was under way for the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre. Community feedback at the time indicated a strong desire for an indoor pool.

As part of the community consultation two years ago, more than 700 residents completed a survey on what they would like at the pool. Of those, almost three-quarters of respondents said they wanted an indoor pool at the facility.

The plan was put on the backburner but now Cr Shields is calling for it to be reignited.

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He said council needed to "get on with the job" of redeveloping the Dubbo pool.

"It's almost an absurdity that the number one regional inland city in NSW still hasn't got a significantly indoor swimming pool, that simply is not good enough," Cr Shields said.

While an indoor lap pool has been on the community's wish list for a while, the mayor said

"I'd be disappointed if this masterplan comes back and it's just an added on indoor pool, I think we can do much better. I think we can do things like more water slides, I think we can do things like a wave pool and fun things for our community," Cr Shields said.

"We are, in the case of aquatic centres, lagging behind our two biggest competitors in NSW being Wagga and Tamworth, that's not good enough. As far as I'm concerned we beat those guys all the time, not just some of the time."

The draft masterplan from 2018 also included suggestions such as expanding the car park to 128 spaces, re-locating the water slide and trialing a pop-up eatery at the pool.

Cr Shields said it was important for council to push ahead with a masterplan for the Dubbo pool. Without a masterplan it would be impossible to get funding from the government, he said.

After receiving support from the other councillors, Cr Shields requested the council staff prepare a masterplan with design concepts to be presented in April.