Ballina’s Council’s last meeting saw a motion from Cr Simon Chate to review swimming pool admission prices, particularly for families, because of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
Margaret van Dommele made a deputation in support of the motion, saying that she learned to swim in a public pool as a child, and later became a champion junior diver as a result. She said that the ‘much higher’ price of pool entry today made regular visits impossible for many families, especially those with multiple children.
She noted that cheaper family passes were available at pools beyond Ballina Shire, such as in Goonellabah and Lismore.
Cr Chate described the current pricing regime as ‘a weak spot’ in Ballina’s charging situation. ‘We’ve currently got a family pass available for the annual and three-monthly pass, but our family pass is designed only for two adults and two children, or one adult and three children.
‘But what about our larger families? What about families with one or two adults and five or six children? The cost can be quite prohibitive.’
Cr Chate said he wasn’t asking for reduced general costs, but for Council staff to review entry fees with a view to finding a cheaper alternative for larger families, all on the same Medicare card.
Amendment fails
Cr Therese Crollick supported this motion, but added an amendment to look at adding a monthly pool ticket option, saying that pool managers frequently reported public requests for this option. This amendment didn’t find enough support to proceed.
Cr Eva Ramsey wanted to put on the record that Ballina’s pools were already running at ‘a huge deficit’ and that fees needed to be structured to cover that, as well as maintenance costs. Cr Damian Loone made the same point.
Cr Simon Chate said it was not the responsibility of people with larger families to keep Ballina Council’s deficit down. ‘This is not on them… all of our ratepayers are paying rates.’
After further debate, Cr Chate’s motion succeeded, despite the opposition of Mayor Cadwallader, Cr Simon Kinny and Cr Damian Loone.
Cr Phil Meehan did not attend the meeting.
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Twelve Northern Rivers residents are celebrating the completion of a groundbreaking program designed to build essential skills and unlock employment pathways for women in civil construction. With local government meeting practice across the state returning to confusion following the NSW Legislative Council's recent decision, Ballina Shire Council's last meeting included a lot of unanimous decisions and an argument about the remnants of the Big Scrub, in which Mayor Cadwallader used her casting vote to squash Cr Simon Chate's motion. Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) has approved Ballina Shire Council's application to increase its general income through a permanent special variation (SV) of 26.25% [in rates] over four years, from 2026-27 to 2029-30. Byron Greens members could expect to be asked to take the future of the Richmond River further south into account when choosing a candidate for next year’s state election. Local business owners in the Alstonville and Wollongbar townships are being encouraged to take the time to read through Ballina Shire Council’s draft plans, which are currently on exhibition.
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