$30 million pool project product of fierce debate

By Tim Howard

The Clarence Valley will have a new $30 million Regional Aquatic Centre, but it took more than an hour of the most ferocious debate many had seen in the region’s council chambers to get it across the line.

And the successful tenderer, Bathurst firm Hines Construction Pty Ltd confirmed it expected to have the 50 metre and two 25 metre pools completed by the end of 2024.

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As the first item of business after he was elected Mayor, Cr Peter Johnstone called for the the pool tender allocation to be brought forward as a concession to the 40 or more members of the gallery packed into the chamber to witness the debate.

Councillors passed it unanimously, but that was the end of the consensus.

The uproar erupted almost immediately when Cr Bill Day put forward an alternative motion to the officer’s recommendation to accept the tender price of $29,141,586.

Instead Cr Day sought to decline the tender offers and revise the order of the project to begin construction of a 50 metre pool and defer other aspects of the project until after next year’s council election.

The gallery voiced its displeasure, interrupting Cr Day before he finished and drawing a call from the mayor for it to be quiet.

The displeasure from some councillors was palpable as the questions started to fly.

Cr Debrah Novak quizzed the mayor over his authorship of the motion Cr Day put forward.

“Is this the same motion that you sent through earlier today to adopt and Cr Day has picked it up and put it forward instead?” she said. “I just want to make sure you guys got that right off the back there.”

And Cr Karen Toms, who admitted the proposed motions had “stunned” her, was concerned it did not contain a request for a new tender and conflicted with the advice council staff had given the council.

Regional Aquatic Centre actvist Karina Plunkett, left, and Cr Karen Toms speak with Cr Ian Tiley after the vote on September 26, to approve the almost $30 million tender for the project.

She was also concerned the motion would delay construction.

“Do you to understand the actual consequences of this motion that you’ve put forward in terms of delaying the project into at least next year before we put a tender out for the scoped 50 metre pool?, she said.

“Do you understand that that is is going to delay even producing a 50 metre pool next year.”

Cr Alison Whaites was more scathing, asking Cr Johnstone if he had waited to put this motion forward until he was mayor so he could use his casting vote to “not do what the community wants”.

Cr Johnstone brushed the question off, pointing out he had consistently supported building a 50 metre pool first and limit the council’s borrowing need by waiting for more grant funding to become available.

The seconder of the motion, Cr Greg Clancy, who had supported the original aquatic centre plan, until the tenders came in, said the original plan exposed the council to an intergenerational debt.

“It’s also an generational debt that future generations will have to pay off,” he said.

“And I’m uncomfortable about supporting something at this level.”

Councillors opposing the motion did not hold back.

Cr Steve Pickering said said just seeing the motion on the screen disappointed him, particularly with such a large gallery in council to witness it.

He said he was speaking for the outlying district, that had been promised a regional facility in Grafton, when council shut down smaller pools, like the one in his home village of Ulmarra.

“That was what we were looking forward to all of the people that don’t live in Grafton, residents of Grafton and all of our outlying areas,” he said.

“We’re all looking forward to this aquatic centre being built so we had somewhere to go, activities for the kids, a tourist destination for visitors to the area Learn to Swim classes.

“It’s an asset for for the for the whole community and to see the word decline as the first word on on point one is extremely disappointing and I feel for everybody that’s come into this room today.”

The supporting the motion spoke of their conflict between disappointing the community and their concerns over exposing the council to a large debt,

Cr Jeff Smith said he was torn and and felt agonising over the decision had affected his health.

“I’ve lived and breathed this aquatic centre for so long,” he said.

“The question must come up who pays who pays? For the years they’ve been trying to get grant funding, but as yet it hasn’t appeared.”

Cr Debrah Novak said while the motion appeared cautious and it could actually cost the council more and deprive the community of a worthwhile asset.

Members of the gallery who turned up at the September 26 Clarence Valley Council meeting show their jubilation at the decision to approve a tender price of nearly $30 million for the project.

“It’s a long game,” she said. “And we’ve already been on this for 10 years. We have paid millions of dollars to experts to guide us that’s what we do as councillors and this is where we have been guided to.”

Cr Toms dismissed fears the council couldn’t afford the level of borrowing required, as it had paid down a substantial amount of debt during the 15 years she had been a councillor.

Her view was supported by a glowing assessment of the council’s financial performance and borrowing capacity since 2021 from financial consultants Ernst and Young.

The report showed council had reduced its debts by $25.2 million in the past two years and by more than $50 million since 2016.

The EY report noted the council now had the capacity to sustainably increase its borrowings by more than $88 million under its general fund.

The report further stated that a proposed estimate of $22 million in loans for major projects was well below the sustainable limit, and would retain the lowest (conservative) level of debt risk.

Cr Toms appeared to think the motion might get up, imploring councillors for a change of heart and when the vote came she was pleasantly surprised.

Former mayor, Cr Ian Tiley voted with her, Crs Novak, Pickering and Whaites to defeat the motion.

Cr Tiley’s vote seemed to surprise some councillors and onlookers, who went to him and thanked him as the gallery cleared before the meeting continued.

The loss of the motion also inspired a turnaround from the mayor, who said now council had decided on its direction, he would fully support the plan.

He said he would vote for Cr Pickering’s foreshadowed motion to accept the tender and urged other councillors to do the same.

But Crs Day and Clancy, dug in.

“I’m going to be voting against it,” Cr Day said. “That will not come as any surprise because I don’t believe it’s the right decision, but I will support the outcome. I will not in any way try to undermine it.”

Similarly Cr Clancy said he could not support the motion because of the size of the debt council would enter into.

Councillors voted 7-2 for the proposal.

Some of the placard wielding supporters of the Regional Aquatic Centre project that packed into the gallery at the Grafton Council Chambers for the September 26 Clarence Valley Council meeting.

The decision provoked a jubilant response from the gallery, with cheers erupting and people embracing in the chamber.

A local mum, Karina Plunkett, who drove a petition with 4000 signatures supporting the multi-stage pool project, was ecstatic.

She said the result surprised her but hoped it had been the community response which swayed the vote.

The petition was lodged with the council in a separate item at the meeting.

The president of the Grafton District Services Swimming Club, Stephen Donnelly, said he had concerns councillors could support Cr Day’s motion and ditch all the planning the council had put into the centre.

At the start of the meeting he believed council was split 5-4 in favour of overturning the decision, but this switched during the debate to 5-4 in favour of the full project.

“The council spent $1.62 million on preparing it and I’m thinking, I hope this doesn’t go out the window,” Mr Donnelly said.

“Not only that, we actually get a pool.”

After the meeting Cr Johnstone confirmed the contractors had given a completion date of late 2024.

“The company seems to think the amount of dry weather forecast will allow them a good run and at it and they believe it’s possible to get it done.”

Cr Johnstone said general manager Laura Black was working on providing a more complete idea of the cost of the project, which would include cost of earthworks at the site as well as financing costs.

He said the company’s had decided on a Myrtha design for the 50 metre pool, which would help it achieve its aim to have the pool finished by the end of next year.

The company said the Myrtha method was a 60-year-old proven technology for pool construction based on stainless steel.

A chromium-rich alloy offered both the strength and resistance to chemicals and corrosion needed in a pool environment.

To ensure long life, structural elements like clamps, guides, panels and ducts were securely bolted together – not welded as steel welding could leave the framework susceptible to corrosion.

This system was used internationally in FINA compliant competition pools.

There were cost and time advantages to the system, specifically realised in stage 2 of the project, with an anticipated reduction in construction time of 11 weeks in the overall project.

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