No plan to move Moruya Pool, despite public fury over council proposal

Over the past month, council has been inviting feedback on the future of public spaces as part of the Moruya Riverside Park and Reserves Plan of Management and Master Plan.

But, during a recent meeting with council, President of the Moruya Business Chamber, Rob Pollock said there was a proposal to move the pool to Gundary Oval.

"I went to the meeting and had a look at the plans, and we discovered that the pool is going to get moved," he said.

"I'm just pretty disturbed to find out that our pools are getting relocated on their plan, and yet they don't have it out for public display."

After the meeting, Moruya Business Chamber began to raise awareness about the issue, with scores of locals voicing their opposition to the move.

"The Chamber put it out there on social media deliberately so people could understand what was happening because you couldn't see it unless you were invited to a meeting to have a look," he said.

"I'm telling you now, nobody wants that."

Mr Pollock said the pool was integral to the town's heritage and culture.

"We were the ones who funded it back in the 60s and 70s through the Moruya Mardi Gras, and yet the council seems to have the right to put it where they want," said Mr Pollock.

"Well, I'm sorry, our forefathers earned the money to put it there, so it should be maintained and it should be looked after and respected and stay there."

However, the director of community arts and recreation at the Eurobodalla Shire Council, Kathy Arthur, told the Bay Post there is no current proposal to relocate the pool.

"The council's not even considering that. It's not an immediate project," she said.

"I don't believe anyone from the council at any stage has said, We're moving the pool. We haven't done that."

However, given the facility's age, Ms Arthur said there needs to be some consideration of its future in the next five to ten years.

"A long-term plan that we're flagging is that we will need to renew the pool at some point at that time," she said.

"That might mean renewing the pool at its current location, or it might mean looking at another site, depending on the environmental and economic and other issues occurring at that time."

Ms Arthur said that the possibility of moving the pool came up in the meeting as a way to elicit opinions as part of the consultation process.

"At this stage, it's just a consultation to say, here's all the different infrastructure and environmental things on the site. What do you think?" she said.

"It's just a range of ideas and thought bubbles to get people thinking and talking about different potential uses for the site."

The public consultation process on the riverside plan has already drawn over 300 pieces of feedback, all of which will be integrated into the resulting draft.

"The master plan will be all these ideas coming back, and then the team will work on pulling them together and doing a draft, then that goes to council, and people can comment on that," she said.

And, should the council propose to make any changes to the Moruya pool, that initiative itself would be put to the community for consultation.

"Let's say 10 years from now there's a discussion around the pool, you'd look at all the pros and cons of all the different options, and then you talk to the community about it," Ms Arthur said.

"You would have that conversation with the community as a separate specific project, rather than just going, oh, we're doing this. We just don't do that anymore. That's not how things operate."

Whatever the future of the pool - and the public's opinion about it - locals are being encouraged to contribute their two cents via the online survey, which is open until August 4.

"We really encourage everyone to have their say on what they'd like," said Ms Arthur.

"Having lots of different ideas is great. The more the merrier."