By KATH GANNAWAY
HILLS residents have been urged to make their views known about the future of the Olinda Pool.
Yarra Ranges Council at its meeting on Tuesday, 8 July, resolved to engage with key stakeholders and the broader Olinda community to consider the issues and options for the pool and future long-term options for the site.
The plan to enter into a formal consultation process was welcomed by members of the Save Monbulk Pool Group, with spokesman John Faull saying he believed the council was now listening to what the group wanted to achieve.
“We have had consultative meetings with community and they are adamant they want to keep it in its present form and repair it and hopefully we will be able to consult with council and get a quick turnaround,” he said.
“We will be more than happy to work with council on this and approach a situation where we have an outdoor pool, and works in with the shire’s desire to expand it to include something additional,” he said.
Cr Jason Callanan moved the motion, saying he had been involved in many discussions with both council officers and the Olinda community around whether the pool should be patched up, or whether something better should be built.
“For many of us who have lived in small communities, a pool is a place to meet and socialise, a place to be a kid,” he said, adding “… so don’t think I don’t understand what this pool means to you.
“We have a report and recommendation that gives all Hills communities a say in what they want in this space and if at the end of the day the community wants a pool, we need to do it properly,” he said.
“My vision is for a pool that is there for more than just a few months of the year.”
Cr Noel Cliff said he was supporting the motion because it gave the broader Hills communities a change to have a say on what will happen to the pool.
“It’s not just the Olinda community that has to have a say, it’s the whole Ridge Top communities.
He said he expected the consultation would take a minimum of three months.
“This is too important to rush; it’s an important social issue and council has said they want to what the community wants, so they must then listen.”
