Dear Beagle Editor, Let me start out by saying that I am not a Fly-In Fly-Out expert and a know-all about swimming pools. I am also not a town planner or an obstinate bureaucrat or politician being guided by an agenda that no-one is privy to. I am just one of the 37,000 residents of the Eurobodalla Shire who had no input at all into the Councils' Aquatic Strategy that was hurriedly prepared to provide the reasoning behind Council's grant application for a 25m pool in Batemans Bay having identified, without talking to a single resident or councillor about where the "regional" 50m pool should be located. But Fly-In Fly-Out experts know best and that is why they get the big money. Obviously we have no expertise in NSW or the Eurobodalla to draft our own Aquatic Strategy and that is why we had to contract Queensland consultants. Obviously they are the experts in knowing what we ratepayers want because they drafted a strategy that was immediately rubber stamped by our Councillors that said the Narooma Pool was to be the regional sports and carnival pool and the shire's population could all take a drive to use it. Turns out that the decision is correct - and that the shire's residents will be taking a drive - to Ulladulla. It is a shame that our NSW consultants are judged so poorly that out of state experts have to be called in but then that is the way it works. One of the stupidest things you could do though as a politician is to begin to pit one town against the other in the media and to run a poll. That would be really dumb and even more devisive that pitting 25m supporters against 50m supporters and saying really dumb things like "anyone who disagrees with us will be responsible if we are not successful in the grant application" "It will be their fault for having an opinion that didn't agree with ours and we will do all we can to make sure they get the blame and we don't." "We know what they want and they will get what we give them" Public consultation - phooey, we asked around, ticked the box marked "consultation" and then did whatever we were going to do anyway. What are they going to do? Write letters to the editor, raise it in public forums - phooey... water of a ducks back" And costings? Well that is secret stuff. Where would you put the Regional Pool knowing that both the Batemans Bay 50m pool and the Narooma 50m pool are approaching the end of their lives especially knowing that the Fly-In Fly-Out expert said that a population under 100,000 can't justify a 50m pool
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