Plant nursery to close as council expands Quirindi pool

Due to the $6.6 million Quirindi Aquatic Centre upgrade, set to begin construction soon, the Liverpool Plains Shire Council (LPSC) informed the Quirindi Community Nursery earlier this year that it would have to move.

The group was offered a section of land by the LPSC, but organiser Helen Pine said it was decided at their most recent Annual General Meeting to close by the end of September due to a lack of volunteers.

"It's due to a combination of things, first and foremost it is council land and they are reclaiming it to extend the pool," Ms Pine said.

"They did offer us another site. But our sales have been diminishing a little bit. And also we're lacking in volunteers."

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The Quirindi Community Nursery opened on November 13, 2002, as a volunteer-based organisation for the community to source local seeds to grow into plants for sale and Landcare projects in the area.

In the 21 years it has been open, organisers have raised $127,000 for the community, which has gone to children's scholarships, clubs and sporting groups, the Westpac Rescue Helicopter and an insulin pump for a local girl who needed one.

When Ms Pine joined the nursery as a volunteer the year it opened in 2002, they had 20 volunteers and though the number has fluctuated throughout the years, they are now down to about four.

"If we had more helpers, that would make a difference in our decision," Ms Pine said.

Ms Pine said she will spend her extra time with her grandchildren and helping her husband with the cattle and crops on their Quirindi farm.

LPSC Mayor Doug Hawkins (OAM) said it is sad the nursery is closing and that he would have preferred to see the group take up the option to move across the road.

"My wife's a keen gardener and she has purchased trees from there to plant, so it really is a sad loss to the community," Cr Hawkins said.

"But we've worked hard on this aquatic centre, and I went out and chased that $6.6m to build that infrastructure."

Cr Hawkins said that when the expansion of the aquatic centre is complete, the precinct will become "a magnificent complex for sports".

"We'll have new tennis courts, we've got a new basketball and netball court and the lighting for the Jock Longfield Oval will facilitate sport all year round," Cr Hawkins said.

"So I think, for a small population, it's a pretty big effort."

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