BendigoWeekly www.bendigoweekly.com.au
ISSUE 1058 FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2018
LONG COURSE CAMPAIGN: Golden Square pool supporters outside Wednesday’s council meeting. Photo: ANDREW PERRYMAN
By SHARON KEMP
THE fight to save the Golden Square Swimming Pool was won comprehensively Wednesday night as supporters of the pool, nicknamed the Beating Heart of Golden Square, convinced City of Greater Bendigo councillors to defer closure for at least two years. But president Bernadette Wright had not even started celebrating before she reminded supporters around her of the work ahead.
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Council votes to keep pool open
“It has become the beating heart of Golden Square and you supported it,” Ms Wright said. “We have a lot of work for the next two years so you are still needed.” In response to an avalanche of email, letters and texts in support of keeping the venue open, councillors unanimously voted to give the vol-
unteer committee that manages the 1960s-built in-ground pool a twoyear lease and $50,000 a year for operating costs. But they also transferred to the committee the risk of infrastructure failure. If the concrete lining of the pool was to crack because of age, the committee would have to pay for repairs.
Cost holds back museum push - Page 3
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It is a very small risk, Ms Wright said, adding that she had been disappointed to see the council continue to report the risk. “The pool is in better condition than when the council managed it,” she said. A volunteer committee has managed the Maple Street centre since 2013 when it won for the first time
a community campaign against closure. The council has been pledging for eight years to close it because it is nearing the end of its shelf-life. Active and healthy lifestyles manager Lincoln Fitzgerald reiterated on Wednesday that there was no sign of structural damage but the concrete pool shell had a “theoretical asset life” of 50 years and, approaching that age, the integrity of the shell became less predictable. Continued Page 8
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