RESIDENTS wanting to fill out a City of Ballarat survey concerning the contentious decommissioning of the Black Hill Pool have been turned away from the library and town hall.
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Ballarat councillor Samantha McIntosh told The Courier she had been contacted by numerous residents seeking to fill out a hard copy of the survey in the city centre. But when they sought a copy of the document at allocated centres, including the Ballarat library and council offices, the residents were told there were no copies available.
The survey is part of wider consultation process by the council to re-exhibit the aquatic strategy in its entirety, following a public backlash on its decision to shut down the pool.
Cr McIntosh said at the council meeting on Wednesday evening the predicament was an “embarrassment” for the council.
“I’m very disappointed,” she said. “We have put out a strategy, that is supposed to be true and non-biased consultation and available to everybody in the community. Yet there are people who made the effort to go into the city centre to have their say and they aren’t being given that opportunity.”
Cr McIntosh said that by not having hard copies of the document available, the council was eliminating demographics of residents from the consultation process.
“It’s not just people who don’t have access to the internet or aren’t as tech-savvy, but also those who simply prefer to fill out a hard-copy document,” she said.
“If they make the effort to go into a council office to fill it out, there should copies of it there for them to do so.”
The survey has already been the subject of controversy in the community, with some in the city dubbing it a token gesture.
Of the 18 questions in the survey, four relate to the age, gender and location of the respondent. Another three concern aquatic play spaces, what the purpose of the respondent’s visit to the pool was, and a further three relate to the building of an indoor pool.
Other questions are about the Aquatic Strategy specifically, including whether residents want a 50-metre indoor pool.
Minimal questions relate specifically to the Black Hill Pool, other than to ask residents which was their favourite outdoor pool.
The City of Ballarat’s head of city infrastructure Eric Braslis defended the council’s consultation process at the council meeting. He said the council was “going above and beyond” in this round of consultation. “We are doing much as we possibly can to make it easy for people to access the survey. Residents are able to access it electronically, we have staff and volunteers handing out surveys, and information face to face at various locations throughout this consultation period. There are hard copies available at allocated council buildings.”
melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au