Letter to the Editor: Sawetell Pool issues

DEAR News Of The Area

The contempt that Coffs City Council has for the residents of Sawtell and the southern regions was clearly on show last week at the Sawtell Swimming Pool.

It would appear that the purpose of this hastily arranged meeting, brilliantly set down for 2pm-4pm on a workday, was to educate local residents of the City Council’s proposal to replace the pool with a “water experience fun park” or some such nonsense.

Apparently the management of the Sawtell reserve and pool will be, or already has been, handed over to a park management company called Reflections.

Yet another example of councils’ plans to shirk financial responsibility of our community assets.

What’s next for the chopping block? The Toormina library?

Unsurprisingly, no one from “Reflections” was on hand to answer exactly what a water fun park is and why a very popular, perfectly good, community owned swimming pool should be bulldozed.

The best the Council representatives at this poorly arranged session could offer was for residents who have concerns to respond via the online council survey.

What a great tool to quieten the masses that is.

We know from experience that this sort of response will have little indication, or give the council an accurate gauge, of the community’s feelings.

We have seen how pathetically one-sided these community consultation strategies have been in recent years.

Coffs Jetty development? The new Council chambers? Community involvement at its worst.

Clearly a vast majority of people, especially the aged and non computer savvy people, are reluctant or unable to fill in council forms or data based designed feedback sheets.

What is desperately needed is a properly managed community information session, possibly held indoors at the newly renovated reserve hall, and held at a time convenient to most residents – where much-needed answers to questions can be responded to by those pushing for the destruction of our pool.

Bob Harris

Sawtell