At the recent meeting of the Batemans Bay Indoor Aquatic Centre Committee, Fiona Phillips, the Labor candidate for Gilmore, told the meeting how a small committee managed to get the Nowra Aquatic Park established. Fiona was a key figure in this project and is very keen to help Batemans Bay with their indoor aquatic centre. She gave the Committee some ideas about working with council, and gaining support from the community.
Prior to the meeting, Fiona had arranged for three BBIAC members to meet Bill Shorten in Nowra to discuss the need for an indoor aquatic centre in Batemans Bay. Fiona said that Bill was very supportive, and was particularly interested in the jobs the centre would offer, both in the building and in the running of the facility.
After Fiona’s presentation, President Carolyn Harding gave a report on Council’s Mackay Park Sunset Committee meeting. Council is now looking at a variation to the current planning to separate the performing arts centre from the “state-of-the-art aquatic centre” and has asked consultants Otium to look at different scenarios which would retain the aquatic centre on its existing site and place the performing arts centre on the northern side. Both would become standalone facilities within the Mackay Park Precinct, along with some public/private partnership development.
The Committee is pressing hard for a 50 metre pool in the new centre, rather than the 25 metre one currently proposed by Council. Batemans Bay has some very talented swimmers whose families have to transport them to Ulladulla during the off- season to keep up their training. Swimming in a 50 metre pool would increase stamina and endurance, ensuring children (and adults) would be better prepared to save themselves when caught in a rip, or involved in another dangerous situation, at our many beautiful beaches.
The Committee urges people to keep an eye out for its stalls in the Village Centre and BBQs at Bunnings where they can pick up a copy of our Newsletter. Everyone is welcome to join us at the next Committee meeting to add much needed support to the cause – see local papers and Facebook for details.
Above: BBIAC (Batemans Bay Indoor Aquatic Centre) Committee meeting with Fiona Phillips
