Emma Pritchard
While the words Grafton Olympic Pool presently adorn the entrance, a new name has been endorsed for the facility following the Clarence Valley Council (CVC) ordinary meeting on October 22, and a subsequent extraordinary council meeting on October 29.
A motion brought forward by Cr Allison Whaites last week which included endorsing Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre as the name of the new facility, endorsing Grafton Memorial Indoor Pool as the name for the new indoor facility, and endorsing Grafton Olympic Pool as the name for the new 50m outdoor pool, was passionately debated amongst councillors.
An amendment proposed by Cr Peter Johnstone to insert “cub scout” into the name of the new indoor facility so it reads the Grafton Cub Scout Memorial Indoor Pool was accepted by the mover in honour of the 13 boys who tragically drowned in the Clarence River almost 81 years ago.

Following the devastating loss of so many young lives in 1943, citizens of Grafton and South Grafton united to raise funds to enable a local pool to be built to provide children with a safe environment to participate in swimming lessons, and it was subsequently constructed and opened in 1956 by the then Mayor of Grafton City Council Ald. L.W. Bowtell, who spoke of the indelible connection between the pool and the cub scouts.
During the ordinary meeting Cr Shane Causley questioned the proposed endorsement of Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre as a name while referencing recent community consultation undertaken by council.
“77 percent came back and said they didn’t want Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre (as the name), aren’t we going to listen to the community?” he asked.

Following consultation by CVC General Manager Laura Black, Cr Causley was told it was correct that the response to the community survey showed participants leaned towards a different name other than what the officer’s recommendation indicates, but the body of the report outlined why staff made alternative recommendations which (in council’s view) will open up more regional based events and represent the Local Government Area (LGA) more broadly, and the proposed naming also includes the internal naming of indoor facilities in recognition of what the community sentiment portrays.

The motion was carried 6-3 with councillors Whaites, Novak, Johnstone, Causley, Smith and Toms voting in its favour.

Following the ordinary meeting last week, Deputy Mayor Greg Clancy submitted a notice of motion to amend the resolution and subsequently call the facility the Clarence Regional Memorial Aquatic Centre instead of the Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre, and an extraordinary council meeting was scheduled for 8:30am on October 29.

The Deputy Mayor said he had received correspondence from and had also had discussions with President of the Clarence River Historical Society (CRHS) Steve Tranter, who he revealed had also been in contact with family members of the cub scouts who sadly drowned, and suggested incorporating the word ‘memorial’ into the overall name of the facility, rather than an indoor facility,
Cr Yager spoke in support of the Deputy Mayor and said ‘memorial’ was a key word many people throughout the community wanted in the name.
The motion was lost, and the facility was endorsed as the Clarence Regional Aquatic centre.