"We haven't made a decision yet, but whatever decision we do make will be fair," he said.

At the recent council meeting on Thursday, June 23 Dubbo Regional Council voted to arrange a councillor workshop to discuss the operations of council's aquatic leisure centres.

Dubbo Regional Council operates three aquatic leisure centres across the local government area- the Dubbo Aquatic Leisure Centre (DALC), the Wellington Aquatic Leisure Centre (WALC) and the Geurie Aquatic Leisure Centre (GALC) and council determined in 2019 that all facilities be managed in house.

Prior to 2019 DALC operated through an external management entity, who had held the contract since 2006/07.

The WALC and the GALC previously operated under an internal arrangement under the former Wellington Shire Council. Following the amalgamation in 2016 this arrangement continued until 2019.

A report about the running of the aquatic centres was brought to council so councillors could make an informed decision about which management path to choose.

Cr Chowdhury amended the original motion to include the workshop because he believed the aquatic centres were "critical infrastructure" for the community and needed to be run "properly".

"I think the report council received is very good but as new councillors I think we need a more in-depth discussion rather then making a quick decision," he said.

The workshop will include councillors, the mayor and council staff to look at the three options available to them: get an external person or company to run the aquatic centres, keep it internal or have it be mixed.

"At the end of the day this is infrastructure for the community to use so we have to make the decision carefully so that council doesn't get into more debt when running the facility," Cr Chowdhury said.

"I think we need to make sure the ratepayers money is used in the best way to make sure the community is happy and there is a good outcome for the community."

Community consultation won't happen until council decides on which method to take.

"I want to reassure the community that everything will be done with transparency and community consultation," Cr Jessica Gough said.

Cr Matthew Wright said it was an important decision that needed more than just a discussion at a council meeting.

"We can nut it out at a council workshop to come up with something the community can be satisfied with and council can be satisfied with from a financial perspective as well," he said.

Deputy mayor Richard Ivey supported the amended motion to have the "in-depth study" because the aquatic centres were one of the "main" community services that Dubbo Regional Council provides.

"We live in a hot climate and an outdoor recreation swimming pool facility is vital but of course that's the dilemma because it costs a lot of money to run and the need for maintenance and labour and life guards...but it does provide a community benefit," he said.

"Getting the balance right is not something that's easy and is only something that can be done with a well-structured in-depth professional look at it."

Cr Joshua Black said the pools were important especially in a swimming nation like Australia.

"Kids need to learn how to swim so if we gets this right that would be great," he said.

Cr Shibli wasn't sure which way the council was leaning, but if they decided to go the internal route there would be a process and they would make the community aware.

"If we go fully external we will be fair in the process and make sure to find a good operator who can deliver the job, we don't want a person to get that operation and not deliver so there's a number of challenges," he said.

"All three options will be discussed so we can find the best outcome. This is a priority and we are not making any quick decisions."