Mullumbimby’s public swimming pool could be heated all year round within a year, after Greens Byron Shire Councillor Sarah Ndiaye successfully won councillor support last Thursday to ‘urgently explore the option of installing a heating system’.
Cr Ndiaye’s motion included first checking to see if the electricity line could service a heat pump for the Petria Thomas Pool.
Labor Cr Asren Pugh and Independent Mayor Michael Lyon voted against.
At last Thursday’s meeting, Cr Ndiaye described it as an ‘interim solution’.
She told councillors that after seven years, the community were no closer to an outcome, yet she said there was no blame on Council staff for the long delay.
Other local councils had heated pools, she said, including Kyogle.
Cr Asren Pugh said he was not against the sentiment, but wanted to wait a few weeks for a council staff Pool Options Paper.
‘We should wait for a broader conversation about all the pools,’ he said.
Manager Open Space and Facilities, Infrastructure Services Malcolm Robertson said assuming plans fell into place, Mullumbimby’s pool heating system could be in operation by winter next year.
While unbudgeted, Mr Robertson wrote in his staff report that it is estimated to cost $10.2m, with ongoing annual costs of $80,000.
Writing to The Echo later*, Cr Ndiaye said the first figure was based on a feasibility study for a ‘much more comprehensive project’ and would be out of date given increased building and material costs.
The deputy mayor’s interim measure as agreed to by a council majority was designed to make the pool more accessible and available to the community while future plans were ‘finalised and actioned,’ she said.
Cr Ndiaye also wrote that estimates for heat pumps were less than the $200,000 , allocated in the course of the meeting.
While Cr Mark Swivel jubilantly told his social media followers about finding $200,000 for the project, he conceded, when asked by a follower, that there were no discussions around the impacts of its energy usage.
* This article was updated at about 1.30pm Monday 3 June to include emailed comments from Cr Ndiaye. Without them, the initial version suggested $10.2 million was the estimated cost of the pool heating project alone. A similar correction is to appear in this week’s printed Byron Shire Echo.
An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that Crs Asren Pugh and Michael Lyon were running together on the same ticket in the upcoming local government election. They are running separately.
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