THE City of Greater Bendigo council will tomorrow night vote on a plan to spend more than $1 million to fix a local pool.
The council will vote on a plan to spend $1.25 million to mend the Brennan Park pool at Flora Hill.
Structural issues have lead to a lot of movement with the pool, resulting in cracks and leaking water.
An engineering report found the main pool structure had undergone lateral movement and distortion, which resulted in cracking at the deep end of the pool.
It also discovered the expansion joint near the shallow end had opened up, resulting in the shallow end moving away from the rest of the pool.
Scum gutters along the main pool had also developed cracks along their entire length.
The report also recommended a new balance tank be constructed.
The council report recommends spreading the cost of repairs over two financial years, with $600,000 to be put in the 2008-09 budget and $425,000 the next year.
My maths says that this adds up to $1,025,000 (a little over one million), not $1.25 million.
In any case, why done they bulldose the site and start again with a second heated swimming pool on the other side of central Bendigo and close to the university and the new secondary college and the large primary schools there. Perhaps the Flora Hill Secondary College could have a swimming excellence stream.
The pool at Eaglehawk is good and Eaglehawk deserves their pool. But it's time to start discussions on a second heated swimming pool. Strathdale would be an ideal location and if this is a possibility then the $1.025m should go towards the greater goal.
