MidCoast Council facilitates discussion on future Tea Gardens Pool management options Myall Coast Myall Coast - popup ad Myall Coast News by News Of The Area - Modern Media - December 6, 2023 MidCoast Council Pools Supervisor Alan Anderson, Executive Manager Community Spaces Dan Aldridge, and Manager Community Assets Rhett Patterson addressed concerns of several locals regarding the future of Tea Gardens Pool. POOL access and future management options dominated discussions at MidCoast Council’s Tea Gardens Pool Pop-Up, held on-location on Tuesday, 28 November. Several residents and long-term users of the pool congregated with the sounds of kids’ learn-to-swim lessons in the background, underlining the omnipresent need to continue Tea Gardens Pool’s operations. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au The main item on the agenda was pool operating hours, although locals’ deepest concern was that the pool may be closed down. “This is not about closing the pool,” the three Council representatives clarified several times, “it is about minimising the risk to Council, of which supervision is a part.” Speaking about the recent MidCoast Council Swimming Pool Operations Review (https://haveyoursay.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/swimming-pool-operations-review) at the November Community Conversations in Hawks Nest, Council’s Director Liveable Communities, Paul DeSzell, indicated “a move away from YMCA, seeking a small community group or operator to manage the pool to and align with what the community wants”. “There will be no changes to the pool’s management nor operations until the 2024-25 season, and it is important to discuss these matters with the community to work out how it can best serve them in the long run. “We just want to know what times the most appropriate operating hours are, so it is available to the majority of the community.” The recently capricious opening hours of the pool was a major concern, one that the ‘small/community operator’ will hopefully mitigate with local flexibility unavailable to multinationals like YMCA. The Hawks Nest Tea Gardens Progress Association has indicated efforts to develop a consensus position on the Review, and a way forward for the community. “We note that details about precisely how these proposed models will work next season are not evident at this stage – so lots of questions are being developed, including liability, minimum staffing requirements, what if there is no interested local operator or community group, etc.” Council requested that residents complete a survey telling them when and how you use the pool at www.midcoast.nsw.gov.au/swimming-pools-review. By Thomas O’KEEFE
