After a series of submissions from the public at a council meeting on November 12, the city said the issue would be put back on the agenda for Wednesday night’s council meeting. No trace of the Black Hill Pool is in the report for the meeting. 

Black Hill Progress Association’s Polly Walters vowed residents would turn out in numbers.

“We will continue to fight this decision to the end,” Ms Walters said.

“It’s not about us versus them. We want the council to commit to working with us to get the pool back to a state where it is useable and we won’t back down until we get that commitment.”

Ms Walters said the association was waiting for vital documents from the council, including the results of a survey conducted before the decision to shut the pool was made in August.

The protest will come in the wake of weeks of community unrest following the council’s decision to close the pool. 

Pressure is mounting on the council to address concerns surrounding the accuracy of a report by council officers on the costings of the Black Hill Pool.

Earlier this month, the  council  revealed it was reinvestigating the costings of the pool, following the release of an independent study undertaken by Black Hill Progress Association.

The report outlined several inconsistencies in the council’s budgeted costs for maintaining and running the pool.

Residents say the council overestimated the costs associated with the pool and that its analysis was inaccurate.

To date, no answers as to why the opening hours or staff numbers were increased significantly in the council’s budget report from previous years, have been released.

There have been no details around why maintenance costs at the pool have soared from $2000 last pool season, to $60,000 for the coming season.

Black Hill Post Office postmaster Troy Cheeseman said residents of all ages had been outraged by the decision to close the pool.

“There are many angry older people who feel like they have been kicked in the guts,” Mr Cheeseman said.

“The pool was built with money raised by the community but the council neglected it for years and nearly destroyed it.”

Mr Cheeseman said if the pool was not opened this summer, children who could not afford to be transported to the other side of town would have no place to swim. 

Black Hill Primary School council president Leigh Cassidy said the school community was still in the dark.

He said he feared that if the pool closed, the opportunity for children to take part in a vital learn-to-swim program would be compromised.

“Unless that pool is opened early next year, the school will have to find a facility elsewhere,” Mr Cassidy said. 

“Which means there will be a cost to transport children to and from the school.

“For some children from lower socio-economic backgrounds, that cost will determine whether they take part in the program.”

City of Ballarat mayor John Philips said the council was working through all the implications of the Black Hill Progress Association’s alternative proposal.

Cr Philip said in assessing the proposal the council needed to consider the adopted Ballarat Aquatic Strategy and what any potential changes would mean for the whole community now and in future.

melissa.cunningham@fairfaxmedia.com.au