Emma Pritchard
Following the recent announcement by Clarence Valley Council (CVC) that ongoing construction and the subsequent scheduled delivery of the Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre has been delayed due to inclement weather, Councillor Karen Toms took the opportunity to clarify what she described as “a bit of negativity” she had heard surrounding the highly anticipated project during the Ordinary Council Meeting last week.
While admitting the 164.2mm of rain which fell across Grafton between October 1 and November 12 has caused “a little bit of a setback”, Cr Toms said opening the facility in December this year was always very ambitious.
Despite acknowledging the recent substantial rainfall has been disappointing in terms of council delivering the project in accordance with its original schedule, she said it was a reality of the situation.
“We (council) are now planning a suitable opening (time and date) in early 2025,” she said, adding councillors will host a workshop next month to further discuss the upcoming event.
Cr Toms also addressed the possibility of council partially opening the facility, specifically the 50m Grafton Cub Scout Memorial Indoor Pool.
“It’s very different to what happened at the beginning of this project,” she said.
“We had some councillors and community members who just wanted to build a 50m pool (initially), and at that stage we wouldn’t have been able to open the facility (had that been done) as there would have been a gaping hole (on site) due to ongoing demolition, and that would have been very dangerous (for the general public).
“These (current) circumstances are very different.”
Cr Toms said she hoped her fellow councillors would support the opening of the 50m Grafton Cub Scout Memorial Indoor Pool next month, adding the Clarence Valley community would be very grateful if it could be safely accessed amidst competition of construction on the remainder of the facility as summer quickly approaches.
“It’s going to be hot,” Cr Toms said.
“We might not be able to open the whole facility in December like we wanted to, like we were aiming to, but let’s hope we can open the 50m pool so that through the summer period and during the school holidays, at least they (community) will have somewhere to go to cool down.
“Meanwhile, we’ll work on a grand opening and plan lots of great things to open the whole Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre (at a later date).”
Councillor Debrah Novak said considering the high volume of rain which has fallen across Grafton in recent weeks, and with further wet weather forecast heading into December, she hoped the community would understand the reasons behind the delayed opening of the Clarence Regional Aquatic Centre in its entirety and gets behind council as they work towards completing the project.
The motion was carried unanimously.