Tamworth Regional Council says 80 per cent of survey respondents are in favour of building a new aquatic facility, after a consultation from which more than 770 responses were removed.
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On Friday, the council released the Community Engagement Strategy Outcomes and Findings document, which outlined how it had consulted the community, “with more than 3000 residents having their say”.
The aquatic facility business paper will be submitted to the council at Tuesday night’s meeting, where it is likely it will vote to proceed with the third concept: a $61 million centre with 50m indoor and outdoor pools, as well as the sale of both the city and Scully Park facilities.
That concept scored 81 per cent of the 1151 respondents’ votes, but also comes with a projected annual net operating loss of $1.2 million.
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TRC general manager Paul Bennett said the council received “a very consistent response from the community.”
“This has been a project that has been on the books for over 20 years,” he said.
“This is about taking the next stage of consultation to the community, and saying to them ‘This is what it will cost and this is how we will address some of those concerns that have been raised’.”
Some of the concerns were the distance to the new facility, with 64 per cent of respondents preferring it closer to the CBD. Costs and transport issues also featured heavily.
Save The Pools president David McKinnon said he was astounded at the results of the consultation, saying both surveys conducted by the ratepayers association (TRRRA) and The Leader returned the opposite results, with more than 80 per cent of respondents objecting to the sale of existing pools.
This was why 770 of responses were removed; however, no data was given as to which were removed and under what criteria.
Mayor Col Murray, who has been a vocal supporter of the proposal, said “consultation started in 1992”.
“There are a lot of factors councillors will take into consideration on Tuesday,” he said.
“This is another step in a long process, but we are, as an organisation, determined to push this through to the end where a strong consideration can be given by the elected councillors.”
The public are invited to sit in on the council debate on Tuesday night, and can register to have their voice heard. The debate will also be live streamed.
