A PETITION calling for Nuriootpa’s outdoor pool to stay open past the current season has attracted close to 5000 signatures.

More than 3100 signatures have been collected via an online petition at Change.com, while at least another 2000 signatures have been collected on hard-copy across 26 different locations.

Rebecca Reynolds, of the Nuriootpa War Memorial Swimming Pool Working Group, said the petition will continue to be circulated over the summer season before being presented to Barossa Council.

“I think that the northern Barossa area, Nuri, Angaston, and Stockwell, should have access to swimming facilities. Just having a 25-metre pool at the Rex is not sufficient,” she said.

“I would like it to stay open but I would really like to see it imagined more, so the management over the last few years haven’t been proactive and entrepreneurial, and the community has had trouble accessing the pol at times as well.

“So, it’s more than just closing the pool, it’s ‘hey let’s reimagine this space, what could it be, and how could it be better?’.”

Ms Reynolds said she believes the strong support for the petition and its cause, is largely due to the community feeling surprised, and not consulted, on the decision to close the pool.

“In this particular case I think maybe (council) didn’t consult with the community enough so that people just didn’t know it was coming up, and that shock and surprise, particularly because it is a long-standing community asset, I think is where the response has come from,” she said.

“This is our elected council and they are supposed to represent the Barossa’s views and clearly they have not represented a lot of views.”

Barossa Council’s elected members made the controversial decision to shut the Nuriootpa War Memorial Swimming Pool last month, having revealed it would cost an estimated $1.6 million minimum to bring it up to standard.

Facility closure discussed at meeting

QUESTIONS have been raised in yesterday’s Barossa Council meeting, in relation to the impending Nuriootpa pool closure.

Councillor Kathryn Schilling raised comment in relation to a 2015 condition facility report for the Nuriootpa War Memorial Swimming Pool.

“…the Executive Summary on page 1 states ‘if the client undertakes priority one and two, the water losses at the facility will be significantly reduced. The repairs will also improve the structural integrity of the facility and increase the expected lifespan of the pool vessels to be in excess of a further 25 years’,” Cr Schilling stated to council.

“Have these priority works been undertaken and if not, why?

“If the identified priorities have been actioned, how has it been determined that the pool is ‘past its useful life?”

The report was prepared at a cost of $5675.

In September, council announced it would permanently close Nuriootpa’s outdoor pool at the end of the current season, and turn it into a park.

The decision to close was made by elected members, having received a staff report claiming the pool was “at the end of its life” and would cost at least $1.6 million to be brought up to current standards.

A motion to first take into account feedback from the community, was lost, but supported by councillors David Haebich, John Angas, Carla Wiese-Smith and Cathy Troup.

At yesterday’s meeting, Cr Schilling went on to ask: “Despite five years of minimal repairs, we still do not know the current condition of the pool. Why has a current/more recent condition report not been commissioned as part of the information supplied to elected members?”

The staff response stated that council has never requested or budgeted for further updates.

“The 2015 report is appropriate for asset condition and appraisal of such assets and is consistent with condition and valuation processes for the vast majority of council assets,” it stated.

A further, full response from council staff was expected after The Bunyip’s print deadline