By MELISSA MEEHAN
“WE will not go away.”
Spokesperson for the committee fighting to save the Olinda Pool, John Faull makes no apologies for pushing council to keep the pool open.
The council announced last month they would permanently close down the pool due to irreparable cracks. They also cited poor visitations to the pool.
He met with Yarra Ranges mayor Fiona McAllister last week to discuss the importance of the pool to the community.
“I think it was a very positive meeting,” Mr Faull said. “But she has her hands tied by policies and other rules.”
He said the council had agreed to get an engineer’s report on the viability of repairing the pool and keeping it open.
“For us, it’s quite disappointing that after more than a month, the council still hasn’t got a quote for the repair works,” he said. “It took us a day.”
Mr Faull said a quote he organised to fix the pool came in quite reasonable.
“Obviously that would only be part of the cost, but it’s not astronomical,” he said.
While he feels the council has little or no intention of reopening the pool, Mr Faull and the community have rallied, saying they will not back down in their fight to save it.
“We’ll meet with the committee again next week and make plans to become more vocal and ask more questions,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
